Canadian Media Wants Meta's News Blocking Investigated

A group of Canadian news publishers and broadcasters is calling on Canada's Competition Bureau to investigate and prohibit Meta from blocking news content on its digital platforms.

Bloomberg reports the request comes as social media giant Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it would begin blocking news on its platforms in Canada starting Tuesday after the Canadian government passed a bill forcing Google and Meta to pay publishers for content they link to or repurpose.

News Media Canada, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and CBC said in a joint statement they have filed a request to the Competition Bureau to investigate Meta’s "abuse of its dominant position."

They said the practices of the social media giant are "anticompetitive" as they will prevent Canadian news companies from accessing the advertising market and significantly reduce their visibility to Canadians on social media platforms.

“If Meta is allowed to proceed unchecked, it could inflict significant damage to Canadian news organizations’ ability to offer quality news services to Canadians, which is critical to the functioning of a free and democratic society," they said in their application to the Competition Bureau.

The news publishers and broadcasters said they are calling on the Competition Bureau to use its prosecutorial tools to prohibit Meta from blocking Canadians’ access to news content.

The Competition Bureau has been closely monitoring developments related to Meta's decision to block Canadians' access to news and is in the process of conducting a preliminary review, said spokesman John Power.

He confirmed the Competition Bureau has received the complaint from the news organizations but said it would be inappropriate to speculate or comment on whether specific conduct may raise concerns under the Competition Act.

Asked to respond to the application, Meta spokeswoman Lisa Laventure pointed to the company's previous comments on the Online News Act, also known as Bill C-18, where it has said the law is built on a flawed premise that leads it to block news.

Meta had previously been blocking news content for some users in Canada, but the move was set to extend to all Canadians starting Tuesday. Canadians will no longer be able to view or post news on Facebook or Instagram and news organizations will start to see their stories blocked on those platforms.

The company noted that Canadians can still access news online by going directly to news publishers' websites or using their mobile news apps.