Canada will pull ads from Meta. Ottawa announced that they won’t be spending any more government dollars on advertising for Facebook, striking a blow to parent company Meta. It marks the latest development in the aggressive tug of war between Canada and Meta, as the Globe and Mail reports.
Canada fired the opening salvo with their “Online News Act” passed by Parliament in June. The act makes Meta pay a royalty fee each time one of their news articles get shared on the platform. This would apply to users in Canada as well as around the world. The government seems to be in a hurry, however, as they have yet to put a specific dollar amount on those royalties. Their law also applies to Google. Although, they are in talks with Ottawa, and a representative for the company says they see a solution in the near future.
Now it’s Meta V. Ottawa. In response to their financial demand, Meta pulled the ability to post and share Canadian news articles.
But Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, responsible for enacting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s policy when it comes to tech and government, dug in his heels. “They’re superpowers. They’re huge. They’re rich, powerful. Lots of big lawyers. They can be intimidating. But are we going to let ourselves be intimidated? We can’t. If governments and politicians can’t stand up against that kind of bullying and intimidation, who will?,” he said.
Canada might just be setting a trend. Many policies that the later US adopts get a pilot run in Canada. Think same sex marriage and the implementation of Obamacare.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren, both Democrats, said they are introducing a similar act in the US senate.
While Meta will only lose $11 million in advertising, it represents a larger trend as the tech giant becomes an ever increasing political target. In June, Ireland announced a $1 billion fine against Meta for not protecting the data of European users sufficiently. The Irish government said that private info gleaned from Facebook could be made available to American spies. Meta is clearly becoming a favorite punching bag of governments world-wide.
Still, as Canada begins implementing their new law, watch to see how Google responds. Will they be pushed around by Ottawa or will Trudeau’s government find themselves being bullied by big tech? “We believe we have a path forward,” Rodriguez said of Google. The question is, will Meta come out on top or is Google wise to play ball and exert some control? We’ll keep you posted.
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