Nicholas L. M. Allen
Aug 16, 2023
Canadian news no longer available on Facebook or Instagram
In response to the Online News Act, Meta, the company that owns Instagram and Facebook has restricted the sharing and viewing of content from pages connected to a news outlet in Canada.
Starting on August 1, the company began the process of ending news availability in Canada.
After the process began, Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pascale St-Onge, said in a statement that “Facebook knows they have no obligations under the Act right now. They have not participated in the regulatory process. They would rather block their users from accessing good quality and local news instead of paying their fair share to news organizations.”
She added that Google and Facebook earn 80 per cent of all digital advertising revenue in Canada while hundreds of newsrooms have closed.
“A free and independent press is fundamental to our democracy, and Canadians expect tech giants to follow the law in our country,” said St-Onge.
For Pass Herald readers, this means you can no longer share or view news links or content on Facebook, including news articles and audio-visual content posted by news outlets. You can no longer see links or content from any news outlet pages, even if you search for them or follow them.
As of now, only Canadian users of Facebook and Instagram are being impacted by this change.
The Pass Herald will continue to offer its content through the website, passherald.ca, as well as through Issuu in spite of false reports across social media alleging news will not be available on the internet in Canada.