Ottawa Still Trying to Negotiate With Meta Over News Blocking, Says Trudeau

Attendees visit the Meta booth at the Game Developers Conference 2023 in San Francisco on March 22, 2023. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ottawa is still trying to negotiate with tech giant Meta over its threats to block news sharing for Canadians following the passage of legislation obliging big tech companies to pay Canadian news outlets for content shared on the platforms.

A spokesperson for Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said on June 27 that the tech giant is “proceeding towards ending the availability of news permanently in Canada” once the Online News Act comes into force this December.

“The way the bill is drafted doesn’t allow for negotiations outside the framework of the legislation,” said Rachel Curran, Meta’s head of public policy in Canada, while appearing on the CBC program “Power & Politics” on June 27.

“There are no negotiations currently,” she said, adding, “We wish we weren’t here but we are here, and there is really nothing at this point that’s going to alter that trajectory.”

Trudeau addressed Meta’s current posture while speaking to reporters on June 28 in the Toronto area, saying that the federal government is still trying to hold talks with Meta despite the tech giant saying negotiations have ceased.

“Their decision to walk away rather than engage constructively is disappointing, but we’re very much there to continue to have conversations with them,” Trudeau said.

The prime minister added that Ottawa is still holding talks with Google on the matter, which has previously tested blocking some news for Canadians prior to the Online News Act passing into law on June 22.

“Conversations with Google are ongoing,” Trudeau said. “It is important that we find a way to ensure that Canadians can continue to access content in all sorts of different ways.”

Online News Act

The Online News Act, known as Bill C-18 before it was passed on June 22, requires online platforms and digital news intermediaries to negotiate deals with and pay Canadian media outlets for any of their news and information linked on their platforms.

The Liberal government has said the act is meant to boost the online reach of local Canadian news outlets. Meanwhile, representatives from Google and Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux have predicted it will benefit large legacy media outlets.

On the day the act passed into law, Meta declared it would begin blocking content from news outlets for Canadian users as a measure to comply with the new legislation.

Meta also called the Online News Act “fundamentally flawed legislation that ignores the realities of how our platforms work.”

“How we choose to comply with the legislation is a business decision we must make, and we have made our choice,” Meta said in a statement on June 22.