TORONTO, ONT., August 2, 2023 /CNW/ – The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) calls on Meta to reverse its reckless, ill-advised decision, announced yesterday, to soon prevent Canadians from viewing or sharing news articles on its Facebook and Instagram platforms.
“Democracy cannot flourish, let alone exist, without its citizens having access to accurate and quality information to help them make important decisions about how to live their lives,” said Brent Jolly, president of the CAJ.
It’s a chilling irony that after Facebook and Instagram have extracted so much wealth from Canadian communities, their parent company has chosen this nuclear option in response to laws allowing news publishers, big and small, to negotiate with them for fair compensation for the hard work of Canadian journalists.
Meta declaring that it would remove access to news on its platform is not without precedent. In 2021, for example, the company temporarily cut off access to news for users in Australia in response to the country’s News Media Bargaining Code. Within a week, the California-based social media company reversed course and began to negotiate with news organizations.
“For more than a decade, journalism has been engaged in a complicated and unbalanced relationship with tech platforms,” Jolly said. “It is our hope that cooler heads will prevail and all parties will engage in good-faith efforts to implement a regulatory framework that supports freedom of information and reflects the critical role journalism plays in keeping Canadians informed of decisions that affect their everyday lives.”
“…What has become obvious is Meta and Google refuse to provide fair compensation for the news content on their platforms that is integral to their business models despite the fact that every country in the world that respects copyright has laws around payment for use of content,” Jolly said.
“Radio stations pay to play songs. Broadcast news organizations buy video to use in newscasts. Newspapers pay photographers for their photos. Tech platforms should not be exempt from paying for content that feeds algorithms and helps their bottom line.”
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