The city of Hamilton indicates support for Canada’s Bill C-18 by ceasing advertisements on Facebook and Instagram
On Oct. 11, Hamilton city council passed a motion to stop posting non-essential municipal government advertisements on social media platforms owned by Meta.
This move by the municipal government is an act in solidarity with the Canadian federal government’s recently filed Bill C-18.
This move by the municipal government is an act in solidarity with the Canadian federal government’s recently filed Bill C-18.
Bill C-18, the Online News Act received Royal Assent in June 2023. The act requires big tech companies, such as Meta, to come to agreements with Canadian news outlets in order to compensate them for featuring and sharing links to the outlets' content. As part of this bill, Meta could be required to pay as much as $234 million to news outlets in Canada.
In response to the legislation though, which Meta believes to be flawed, the company has made news content unavailable and unviewable to individuals residing in Canada.
People residing in Canada who attempt to access news content on Meta platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, are presented with a message stating that they cannot see news content in response to the legislation.
The motion to halt advertisements on Meta platforms in solidarity with Bill C-18 was put forth on Oct. 4 by councillor John-Paul Danko of Ward 8. Though support for the motion was not unanimous, with concerns being brought forth regarding the impact on the city’s ability to relay information to citizens, the motion passed two weeks after proposal.
Danko defended the motion by stating that while there may be an effect on reaching citizens, these can be managed. He also stated that Bill C-18 is important for protecting Canadian journalism and media outlets from large tech companies like Meta.
Danko defended the motion by stating that while there may be an effect on reaching citizens, these can be managed. He also stated that Bill C-18 is important for protecting Canadian journalism and media outlets from large tech companies like Meta.
The city of Hamilton is not alone in its decision to boycott Meta as a show of support for the Online News Act and the federal government. The governments of Quebec City and the Province of Quebec, as well as the federal government itself, have also made the same decision as Hamilton.
While talks between the federal government and Meta are ongoing, it remains unclear for how long Meta's news ban on their platforms will continue and when the situation will be resolved.
This is an ongoing story.
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.
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.
