Meta Doesn't Block News In Canada, Facebook's Use Remains Stable

Canada's new Culture Minister, Pascale St-Onge, has spoken to Facebook and Google (photo: Twitter @PascaleStOnge_)

The decision of Meta Platform Inc., Facebook's parent company, to block news links in Canada this month has no effect on visitors or users. Data from an independent tracking company shows that this move has barely had an impact on Facebook's use by Canadians. This happened when the company faced sharp criticism from the Canadian government regarding this decision.

Data shared by Similarweb, a digital analytics company that tracks traffic on websites and apps, shows that the number of active daily users and the time spent on Facebook apps in Canada has remained relatively stable since Meta began blocking news there in early August. Likewise, analytics firm Data.ai provided similar information that their data also showed no significant changes in platform usage in Canada in August.

The estimate, although still early, supports Meta's opinion that news has little value for the company. This comes as Meta is in a tense confrontation in Canada over a new law requiring internet giants to pay publishers for news articles shared on their platforms.

The Online News Act, passed by the Canadian parliament in June, forced platforms such as Meta and Google's parent, Alphabet, to negotiate commercial deals with Canadian news publishers for the use of their content.

Both Meta and Google have said that this law cannot be implemented for their business. In particular, Meta has stated that links to news articles account for less than 3% of content on Facebook news feed and have no economic value for the company.

Meskipun demikian, Meta sendiri melaporkan bahwa berita tetap menjadi salah satu konten paling populer di Facebook saat konten tersebut ada, setidaknya di Amerika Serikat, satu-satunya negara di mana-satunya Meta mengungkap konten yang paling sering dilihat.

Since early August, the company has ended sharing news on their services in Canada, while Google has said it plans to block news from search results in Canada once the law comes into effect.

Canadian government officials have accused Meta of playing games by removing news from its platform at a time of increasing demand in Canada, especially as forest fires forced thousands of people out of their homes. However, talks quietly about these rules are still ongoing behind the scenes.

Specific rules regarding how the law implements the law will be released at the end of December, after which it is hoped that these platforms will finalize an agreement with the publisher.

Canada's new Culture Minister, Pascale St-Onge, has spoken with Facebook and Google since being sworn in after a cabinet reshuffle in late July. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the conversation.

Canadian regulators in charge of implementing the country's online news law said on Thursday, August 24, that they would begin setting up a framework for negotiations between this news organization and internet giants this fall, with the aim of starting mandatory negotiations in early 2023.