Canadians are facing a new media landscape as Meta, formerly known as Facebook, begins the removal of local news from their platforms Instagram and Facebook, in response with the Liberal government’s Online News Act. The change has even impacted community-focused media outlets, such as The Terrace Standard, among other Black Press Media papers.
The Terrace Standard’s Facebook and Instagram pages have gone dark, along with most, if not all, of Black Press Media pages. This move follows Meta’s announcement last month of its decision to permanently end news availability in Canada.
“In order to provide clarity to the millions of Canadians and businesses who use our platforms, we are announcing today that we have begun the process of ending news availability permanently in Canada,” said Meta Canada Public Policy Head Rachel Curran in an interview with The Canadian Press last month.
The blockade has affected articles, reels, and stories, including content from international publishers and broadcasters. While Canadians can no longer share or view such content, users outside of Canada will not experience a change.
News Media Canada President Paul Deegan criticized Meta’s “intemperate” action in a statement last month, stating that it will harm user experience and decrease Facebook’s appeal to users and advertisers. In retaliation, the federal government and some companies have ceased advertising with Meta.
READ MORE: All news in Canada will be removed from Facebook, Instagram within weeks
“Without access to real fact-based news created by real journalists, Facebook will become far less attractive to users and advertisers,” Deegan said in a statement. “We expect more and more advertisers and their agencies will begin pulling advertising from the platform in response to this unilateral, undemocratic, and unreasonable move.”
Meta’s decision to block news is a response to the Online News Act, which mandates tech giants to compensate Canadian news outlets for content shared on their platforms. The act is expected to come into effect by the end of the year.
Ottawa contends that the law will level the playing field between online advertising giants and the dwindling news industry. Since 2008, nearly 500 media outlets in 335 Canadian communities have shuttered, leading to the loss of over 20,000 journalism jobs.
“Google and Facebook earn 80 per cent of all digital advertising revenue in Canada. Meanwhile, hundreds of newsrooms have closed,” said Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge in a statement last month.
“A free and independent press is fundamental to our democracy, and Canadians expect tech giants to follow the law in our country.”
Despite the drastic change, readers of The Terrace Standard can still access local news by visiting the newspaper’s website and subscribing to newsletters at terracestandard.com/newsletters.
With files from The Canadian Press
Viktor Elias joined the Terrace Standard in April 2023.
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