Canadians would no longer be able to access news on Facebook or Instagram if the federal government’s proposed Online News Act passes in its current form, the parent company behind the two popular social media platforms said.
Meta spokesperson Lisa Laventure shared the decision in an email on Saturday, saying the bill’s current provisions would place the company in an untenable position.
“A legislative framework that compels us to pay for links or content that we do not post, and which are not the reason the vast majority of people use our platforms, is neither sustainable nor workable,” she wrote.
Tech giants such as Meta and Google have long fought against the proposed law known as Bill C-18, which would require digital giants like them to negotiate deals that would compensate Canadian media companies, potentially including the CBC, for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online.
Large Canadian media companies and the federal Liberal government have supported the bill, saying it would level the playing field for news outlets that compete with tech firms for advertising dollars.
“Once again, it’s disappointing to see that Facebook has resorted to threats instead of working with the Canadian government in good faith,” Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said in a statement.
“This tactic didn’t work in Australia, and it won’t work here.”
Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez says Meta is resorting to threats. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)
His remarks were a reference to Facebook’s move to block access to news in Australia after a similar law was discussed in 2021. The tech company quickly backtracked after the Australian government made changes to an arbitration mechanism in the bill.
But the company has since threatened to block news access in other countries such as the United States, where Congress was considering similar legislation last year known as the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.
Facebook says news only small part of offering
Facebook has been floating the potential to block news access in Canada for many months as Bill C-18 wound through parliament.
Marc Dinsdale, Meta Canada’s head of media partnerships, raised the idea in an October 2022 statement, where he argued the proposed legislation presumes his company “unfairly benefits from its relationship with publishers, when in fact the reverse is true.”
He claimed posts with links to news articles made up less than three per cent of what people see in their Facebook feed and said Canadians tell his company they want to see less news and political content on its platforms.
“We have repeatedly shared with the government that news content is not a draw for our users and is not a significant source of revenue for our company,” he said.
But Rodriguez and publishers have argued tech companies are snatching advertising revenues away from media companies.
A 2018 report from the Canadian Media Concentration Project revealed Google had snagged half the country’s internet advertising market share that year, with Facebook trailing at 27.3 per cent and Bell, Torstar, Twitter and Postmedia sitting at under two per cent each.
That equates to $3.8 billion in advertising revenue for Google, up from $2.8 billion in 2016.
Facebook made $2.1 billion in advertising in 2018, while Bell made $146 million, Torstar earned $120 million, Twitter got $117.5 million and Postmedia made $116.4 million.
Google, MPs clash in parliamentary committee
Yet Facebook has argued that it is helping publishers rather than harming them.
The company’s feed delivered more than 1.9 billion clicks worth $230 million to publishers in the 12 months leading up to April 2022, Dinsdale said.
This content was all voluntarily placed on Facebook by publishers, he added.
“We are being asked to acquiesce to a system that lets publishers charge us for as much content as they want to supply at a price with no clear limits,” he wrote.
MP tees off on Google
During a committee meeting, Sabrina Geremia, vice president and country manager of Google Canada, responds to questions from Conservative MP Kevin Waugh about Google’s recent move to block some users’ news links in Canada.
“No business can operate this way.”
But Rodriguez said Canadians “won’t be intimidated” by Meta’s tactics.
“All Facebook has done up to this point is show up at committee, delay, obstruct, refuse to answer questions, and threaten Canadians,” he said.
“We’ve always said we’re open to working with Facebook, and we still are.”
At a House of Commons heritage committee meeting on the bill on Friday, Sabrina Geremia, the head of Google Canada, argued the proposed legislation would “radically change” the framework her company uses to host free news links.
“The bill is a moving target, with key questions left unanswered,” she said. “We don’t know if we will be able to continue to link to news as we do today, so we are testing potential changes to the way we currently freely link to news under that framework.”
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers placed All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve because of his lingering calf and Achilles tendon injuries.
The move made Saturday means McCaffrey will miss at least four more games after already sitting out the season opener. He is eligible to return for a Thursday night game in Seattle on Oct. 10.
McCaffrey got hurt early in training camp and missed four weeks of practice before returning to the field on a limited basis last week. He was a late scratch for the opener on Monday night against the Jets and now is sidelined again after experiencing pain following practice on Thursday.
McCaffrey led the NFL last season with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and was tied for the league lead with 21 touchdowns, winning AP Offensive Player of the Year.
The Niners made up for McCaffrey’s absence thanks to a strong performance from backup Jordan Mason, who had 28 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 32-19 victory over the New York Jets. Mason is set to start again Sunday at Minnesota.
After missing 23 games because of injuries in his final two full seasons with Carolina, McCaffrey had been healthy the past two seasons.
He missed only one game combined in 2022-23 — a meaningless Week 18 game last season for San Francisco when he had a sore calf. His 798 combined touches from scrimmage in the regular season and playoffs were the third most for any player in a two-year span in the past 10 years.
Now San Francisco will likely rely heavily on Mason, a former undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech who had 83 carries his first two seasons. He had at least 10 touches just twice before the season opener, when his 28 carries were the most by a 49ers player in a regular-season game since Frank Gore had 31 against Seattle on Oct. 30, 2011.
The Niners also have fourth-round rookie Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. on the active roster. Guerendo played three offensive snaps with no touches in the opener. Taylor had 65 carries for Green Bay from 2021-23.
San Francisco also elevated safety Tracy Walker III from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against Minnesota.
BRUSSELS – Canada walked away with some hardware at the Diamond League track and field competition Saturday.
Alysha Newman finished third in women’s pole vault, while Marco Arop did the same in the men’s 800-metre race.
Newman won a bronze medal in her event at the recent Paris Olympics. Arop grabbed silver at the same distance in France last month.
Australia’s Nina Kennedy, who captured gold at the Summer Games, again finished atop the podium. Sandi Morris of the United States was second.
Newman set a national record when she secured Canada’s first-ever pole vault medal with a bronze at the Olympics with a height of 4.85 metres. The 30-year-old from London, Ont., cleared 4.80 metres in her second attempt Saturday, but was unable conquer 4.88 metres on three attempts.
Arop, a 25-year-old from Edmonton, finished the men’s 800 metres with a time of one minute 43.25 seconds. Olympic gold medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya was first with a time of 1:42.70.
Djamel Sedjati, edged out by Arop for silver in Paris last month, was second 1:42.87
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MILAN (AP) — Bologna’s preparations for its Champions League debut are not going well though it managed to spoil Como’s first Serie A home match in 21 years on Saturday.
Bologna came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw to gather three points from its opening four matches.
Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Its only other appearance in Europe’s top competition was in 1964 in the preliminary round of the old European Cup.
AC Milan is also winless as it prepares for a Tuesday Champions League match against Liverpool. The Rossoneri hosted promoted Venezia later. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0.
Como made a great start in the fifth minute when Patrick Cutrone attempted to roll the ball across the six-yard box but it took a huge deflection off Bologna defender Nicolò Casale for an own goal.
Bologna thought it was gifted a way back into the match on the stroke of halftime when referee Marco Piccinini signalled for a penalty following an Alberto Moreno handball, but he revoked his decision and instead gave a free kick because the handball was just outside the area.
Bologna improved after the break but found itself further behind when Cutrone raced onto a through ball and cut inside past a defender and fired into the far bottom corner.
Tommaso Pobega hit the post for Bologna, which finally pulled one back in the 76th through substitute Santiago Castro.
Another substitute helped the visitors snatch a point when Samuel Iling-Junior curled a fine strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.
Unbeaten sides
Juventus, and more surprisingly Empoli, are among six unbeaten sides.
Empoli held Monza and Bologna to draws either side of a shock 2-1 win at Roma. Juventus’ perfect start to the season was ruined by Roma in a goalless draw before the international break.
On Saturday, there were few clearcut chances in Empoli although home goalkeeper Devis Vásquez made spectacular saves to fingertip out a Federico Gatti header and deny Dusan Vlahovic in a one on one with the Juventus forward.
Empoli had a good opportunity in the 73rd minute following an Alberto Grassi one-two with Pietro Pellegri but the finish was straight at Mattia Perin.
The host could have won it right at the death but Gatti flew in with a great sliding block to keep out Emanuel Gyasi’s close-range effort.
Juventus hosts PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.
