Find out how Bill C-18 affects where you get your news 

In response to Bill C-18, Meta has begun to block the content from the accounts of news outlets for Canadians on their platform

Bill C-18, the Online News Act, received Royal Assent in Jul. 2023. The bill was developed to encourage fairness in the sphere of Canadian digital news and it would require social media and other tech companies, such as Meta, to pay media outlets for use of their news content on any of companies’ platforms. 

The Government of Canada introduced this bill in the hopes that it would ensure news outlets are being paid for their work. The government had predicted the act would give companies a total profit just over $300 million per year. 

However, the act has sparked much conversation and controversy, particularly following the  the reactions from Google and Meta.  

Both Google and Meta had indicated their disapproval of the bill from the time it was first proposed. They believed that the revenue that they bring in as social media platforms justifies not being required to pay news media outlets. 

Google in particular mentioned that referral from having links on their platforms has an annual revenue of $250 million.  

When the bill was passed, Meta announced they would stop sharing Canadian news on Aug. 1 and would be continuing to do when the act came into effect in December. 

The companies have since begun blocking Canadians from viewing news on their platforms. People in Canada can no longer see any Canadian news content on Instagram or Facebook, including the Silhouette’s content.  

Additionally, people in Canada can also no longer see any news content from any international news outlets, such as the New York Times or BBC News. 

As October begins, it has now been three months since the Meta's ban has impacted Canadian's abilities to view news through social media platforms.  

The government is in talks with Meta and Google with the goal of coming an agreement some time in the coming months. 

This is an ongoing story.