Meta’s Canadian news ban ‘an assault on local journalism,’ says Nunavut newspaper publisher – CBC

Aug 11, 2023

Tech giant’s move ‘definitely will have an impact’ in North, says Nunatsiaq News publisher Michael Roberts

Nunavut’s main newspaper says Meta’s decision to remove Canadian content from its platforms will have a significant impact in the territory.

Last week, the social media giant announced it was ending news availability on its platforms in Canada. The company said the move means links posted by Canadian news outlets would no longer be seen by people in Canada. There is no change to international users, according to Meta.

The move was in response to the federal government’s passing of Bill C-18 in June, which requires big tech giants like Google and Meta to pay media outlets for news content they share or otherwise repurpose on their platforms.

Nunatsiaq News publisher Michael Roberts said there was a “fair amount of exposure” from Facebook, driving between 15 to 20 per cent of the traffic on the newspaper’s website.