Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is facing accusations of jeopardizing lives by blocking news links in Canada precisely during the country’s battle against devastating wildfires.
The situation has been described as “hazardous” by Kelsey Worth, aged 35, who is among the nearly 20,000 residents of Yellowknife and many others in small towns that have been ordered to evacuate the Northwest Territories due to the advancing wildfires.
Worth recounted to AFP the extreme difficulty she and fellow evacuees have encountered in accessing verified information about the wildfires that are ravaging the near-Arctic territory and other regions of Canada.
She remarked, “It’s incredibly tough to discern what’s accurate and what’s not. When you’re in a crisis, time is crucial.” She explained that in such situations, many Canadians have traditionally relied on social media for news.
Beginning on August 1, Meta initiated the blocking of news links and articles in response to a recent law that mandates digital giants to compensate news publishers for the use of their news content.
Meta has found itself embroiled in a virtual standoff with the Canadian government over the legislation passed in June, which will only become effective next year.
Modeled after similar legislation enacted in Australia, the bill’s objective is to aid the struggling Canadian news sector, which has witnessed a decline in advertising revenue and the closure of numerous publications over the past decade.
The bill necessitates that companies like Meta and Google establish equitable commercial agreements with Canadian media outlets for the news and information shared on their platforms. This content is estimated to be valued at around Can$330 million (US$250 million) annually, according to a parliamentary report. Failure to comply could lead to binding arbitration.
However, Meta has contested the bill’s validity, asserting that news outlets share their content on Facebook and Instagram platforms to attract readers, ultimately benefiting the news organizations rather than Meta, the tech company based in Silicon Valley.
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