News Media Canada, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and CBC/Radio-Canada have requested that the Competition Bureau investigate Meta’s decision to block Canadian news on its platforms, saying the move “creates a major challenge to our democracy.” (The Logic)
Talking point: “Meta seeks to impair Canadian news organizations’ ability to compete effectively in the news publishing and online advertising markets,” the “urgent request” to competition commissioner Matthew Boswell reads. Competition Bureau spokesperson John Power told the National Post it is “conducting a preliminary review” into the matter. Meta began throttling access to Canadian news on Aug. 1 in reaction to the federal government’s Online News Act, which compels Big Tech to pay for news links posted to their platforms. Google has threatened to do the same—though some publishing executives and others involved in this file have argued that the search giant won’t follow through on it.
