Federal government has suspended all advertising on Facebook, Instagram, says heritage minister

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez says the federal government has suspended all of its advertising on Facebook and Instagram as it continues its battle over the Online News Act with tech giants Google and Meta.

"Facebook has decided to be unreasonable, irresponsible and started blocking news," Rodriguez said Wednesday at a joint press conference with the NDP's Peter Julian and the Bloc Québécois' Martin Champoux. "This is why today we are announcing the Government of Canada will be suspending advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

"Google, on the other hand, has been open to finding a solution."

The federal government's Online News Act, C-18, became law on June 22. It compels companies like Google and Meta, Facebook and Instagram's parent company, to pay money to news organizations each time a user accesses a web story through a link on one of their products.

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Champoux said that, instead of viewing C-18 as an obstacle to profit, tech giants should see it as an opportunity to show that they care about democracy by backing a free, objective press and combating misinformation.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/online-news-act-google-facebook-meta-1.6897186