OTTAWA — A representative for Meta Inc. says the tech giant has a team working to block messages for its Canadian users on Facebook and Instagram.
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Rachel Curran, head of public policy at Meta Canada, says the content-blocking team is preparing to end news availability on these social media platforms if the Liberal government’s Online News Act is passed.
Curran, appearing before the House of Commons Heirs Committee on May 8, said the company will remove messages in a careful, responsible and transparent manner.
Curran says Meta will not remove other non-news pages on Facebook and that Canadian users will still be able to access government, political and emergency services pages.
She says this is a business decision the company is being forced to make because it disagrees with proposed online news legislation, which is currently in the Senate committee stage.
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If passed, Bill C-18 would require tech giants to pay Canadian media companies to link or otherwise reuse their content online.
Meta funds a limited number of grants that support aspiring journalists at The Canadian Press.
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