00:00 Facebook has started blocking access to news on its platform in Canada.
00:04 Meta, the parent company of social media giant Facebook, is taking a bold step in response
00:09 to Canada's Online News Act.
00:12 And it's no longer displaying traditional media outlets on its sites.
00:16 This action comes less than two months after Canada passed the Online News Act in June
00:20 2023, requiring the platforms to pay news outlets to use their content.
00:26 Advocates of the bill argue that platforms like Facebook use news articles to acquire
00:30 their own ad revenue, while the media outlets making the content were not being compensated
00:35 the way they should be.
00:37 Instead of paying the outlets, Meta is choosing not to place the articles in news feeds to
00:41 begin with, saying that the news outlets have willingly shared content on Facebook and Instagram
00:46 to help expand their audiences.
00:48 While the new law goes into effect in January 2024, Facebook is taking action now.
00:54 And they're not the only ones.
00:55 Google is also expected to do the same thing.
00:58 Google announced that it will choose to omit Canadian news sites from search results after
01:02 officials say tense negotiations with the Canadian lawmakers have failed.
01:07 Google says its search is linked to Canadian news sites 3.6 billion times last year.
01:13 Some officials argue that this threatens to block Canadians' ability to search for news
01:17 and is irresponsible.
01:19 But the tech giants argue they should not be exposed to uncapped financial liability
01:23 for giving access to news from Canadian publishers.
01:26 The Online News Act is based on an Australian law passed in 2021.
01:31 California also made a similar proposal, but it was met with pushback and eventually shelved.
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