Canadian Government Demands Facebook And Instagram Lift Ban On Canadian News Amid Wildfires

Topline

The Canadian government has requested Meta lift a ban on news articles from Canadian outlets as the country faces a surge in wildfires, officials said Friday, after Meta announced earlier this year that it would block news links on Facebook and Instagram in protest of a new law requiring internet companies pay news publishers for their content.

Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez said Meta’s ban was “totally unacceptable.”

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Key Facts

Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez said Friday that he had spoken with representatives from Meta and demanded the company lift its ban, allowing Canadians to access information about ongoing wildfires across the country.

Rodriguez said he previously warned Meta about the “risks” posed by a possible ban on news links, adding: “What Meta is doing is totally unacceptable.”

A Meta spokesperson told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the company will continue to block news links, indicating Canadians were still able to use Facebook or Instagram to access “content from official government agencies, emergency services and non-governmental organizations.”

The company also activated its “Safety Check” function, allowing users to notify others whether they are safe from the wildfires.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chief Critic

Chris Bittle, a member of Canada’s parliament, said Thursday that “Meta’s actions to block news are reckless and irresponsible,” according to Reuters. Ollie Williams, the editor of Yellowknife-based Cabin Radio, condemned Meta’s decision to ban news as “stupid and dangerous and clearly should not be in place.”

Tangent

Canadian officials issued evacuation orders late Wednesday for several communities in the Northwest Territories, including the capital city of Yellowknife. A state of emergency was issued earlier this week after more than 230 fires were reported in the area. The evacuation—affecting an estimated 22,000 people—was scheduled to be completed by noon Friday.

Big Number

33 million. That’s the estimated number of acres that have been burned across Canada as of Wednesday, according to the Washington Post. This is an area equivalent to the size of Alabama or more than nine times the size of Connecticut, and is larger than the country’s previous annual record of 18.3 million acres set in 1989.

Key Background

Meta announced in June it would block access to news articles for all Facebook and Instagram users in Canada, after the country passed a new law requiring internet platforms to bargain with news publishers for a licensing partnership independent of the Canadian government. Rodriguez said in July the Canadian government would pull its advertising—an estimated $7.5 million annually—from both platforms in response. Google announced a week later it would also remove links to Canadian news sites from its search results and other products. Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, condemned the new law and said it was “the wrong approach to supporting journalism in Canada.” The law—the Online News Act—was created to “enhance fairness in the Canadian digital news marketplace” while making news sites more financially sustainable, according to government summaries.