Facebook to Block News Stories in Canada over Big Media Bailout Bill

The Canadian equivalent of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), a bill forcing tech companies to pay off and collude with big media companies, has passed in Canada. As a result, Facebook (now known as Meta) says news content will no longer be available on its main platform and Instagram in the country — and Google is considering a similar approach on its platforms.

The bill, C-18, received royal assent this week after being passed by the Canadian Parliament, still under the control of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party.

Much like the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) in the U.S., a repeatedly failed bill that Senate Democrats are once again trying to revive, the primary goal of C-18 is to force tech companies to prop up the overwhelmingly left-leaning legacy media...

Just like the JCPA, C-18 allows media companies in Canada to enter into negotiations with tech companies to pay them for “carrying” their content, i.e., linking to the content and providing the media companies with traffic.

If no voluntary agreement is reached between the media and the tech company, an agreement can be forced on tech companies through arbitration, by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

Also like the JCPA, the Canadian bill contains a massive loophole allowing for the exclusion of independent and conservative media...