Users in Canada will no longer be able to access news articles and videos on Facebook and Instagram, as Meta announced it is officially ending news availability in Canada within a few weeks.
“In order to provide clarity to the millions of Canadians and businesses who use our platforms, we are announcing today that we have begun the process of ending news availability permanently in Canada,” said Rachel Curran, head of public policy for Meta Canada.
In this regard, Canadians will not be able to share or view news articles and other content posted by publishers and broadcasters, including international outlets. However, people outside of Canada will not see a change.
Paul Deegan, president of News Media Canada, highlighted that this “intemperate” action will harm user experience and devalue the Facebook platform.
“Without access to real fact-based news created by real journalists, Facebook will become far less attractive to users and advertisers,” Deegan noted in a statement.
“We expect more and more advertisers and their agencies will begin pulling advertising from the platform in response to this unilateral, undemocratic, and unreasonable move.”
