Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said Wednesday that the federal government is pulling advertising on Meta’s platforms, calling the tech giant’s plans to block Canadian news content in response to the passage of the Online News Act “unreasonable” and “irresponsible.” (The Logic)

Talking point: The act, which received royal assent last month, requires online giants like Google and Meta to pay Canadian publishers in exchange for using their news content. While Google announced last week that it will no longer display news in search results in Canada, Rodriguez said he is optimistic the government can reach an agreement with the company. Meta, which has also cancelled a number of content-sharing deals over the legislation, is “not talking” to the government, he said. Rodriguez said the government spent $11.4 million of its $21.2 million social media ad budget on Facebook and Instagram in the 2021–22 fiscal year. Meta called the act “flawed legislation,” but did not directly respond to The Logic’s question on the federal government’s ad decision. Meanwhile, Quebecor and Cogeco also announced they are withdrawing advertising from Meta’s platforms.