Meta News-Blocking: Industry Minister Backs Complaint Filed With Commissioner He Appoints

Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne leaves after a media availability on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 7, 2022. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne waded into the dispute over the removal of news links by Meta over Bill C-18 by saying he fully supports the complaint filed by the news lobby with the Competition Bureau.

While the Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency, the industry minister is responsible for appointing the commissioner of competition.

“I am determined to use every tool at our disposal to ensure that Canadians can have access to reliable news - across all platforms,” Mr. Champagne said on social media on Aug. 9.

“I fully support the complaint made to the Competition Bureau by [Canadian] media groups against Meta in their effort to promote a free & independent press.”

The Competition Bureau has said it is analyzing the situation to determine whether there is a breach of the Competition Act.

Groups representing media outlets and the CBC filed a complaint with the bureau on Aug. 8 with regards to Meta stopping the display of news links on its platforms. They say Meta’s conduct is “anticompetitive” and the practice is “clearly designed to discipline Canadian news companies.”

A number of publications lobbied in favour of Bill C-18, the Online News Act, which was adopted in late June. They sought the government’s help to force social media companies to share advertising dollars as their own revenues are falling.

The legislation has backfired, with media losing the visibility and reach they previously received free of charge through Meta’s platforms.

When contacted by The Epoch Times about the minister’s stance, the Office of the Ethics Commissioner said that due to confidentiality restrictions, it could not comment on “any dealings or matters with individual regulatees.”

The minister’s department did not respond to a request for comment by press time. The Competition Bureau provided a statement to The Epoch Times which does not address the minister’s remarks.

Current Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell was appointed for a five-year term in 2019 by then-industry minister Navdeep Bains.

“Imagine having 7 months left in your term and reading this tweet from the guy who will decide if you get a renewal or hit the road,” Peter Menzies said in a post on social media about Mr. Champagne’s comment and his role in appointing the commissioner of competition.

“Then imagine a media culture within which no one thinks that’s an issue,” added Mr. Menzies, a former vice-chair with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and a senior Macdonald-Laurier Institute fellow.

Former ethics commissioner Mario Dion also weighed in on the issue by responding to Menzies’ post on platform X, formerly known as Twitter, saying, “Exactly right- blind spot Mary Dawson was talking about.”

Mr. Dion was alluding to his predecessor in the role, Ms. Dawson, who commented in 2020 that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may have a “blind spot” on ethics.

Ms. Dawson had found Mr. Trudeau guilty of violating the Conflict of Interest Act for vacationing on the private island owned by the Aga Khan. She was commenting at the time on the WE Charity scandal.

Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, a critic of C-18, also said on social media that “it’s a bad look for the responsible Minister to wade into a complaint this way.”

Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.