adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

News

Meta's news block hits Indigenous communities harder, Six Nations publisher says – CBC.ca

Published

 on


The publisher of a First Nations newspaper based in Six Nations of the Grand River, Ont., says she’s “extremely concerned” about the impact on Indigenous communities of Meta blocking news content in Canada.

“In many cases, they’re in very isolated areas and for Facebook to pull a stunt like this, it can cause so many problems for our people to get information to them,” Lynda Powless, publisher of Turtle Island News, told CBC Hamilton.

“First Nations are in precarious positions to begin with … these are communities that just even have problems getting to the internet.”

Meta — which owns Facebook and Instagram — began ending the availability of news on those sites in Canada earlier this summer in response to the passage in June of Bill C-18, the Online News Act, which takes effect by the end of this year. 

Now links and content shared by Canadian news outlets on Meta’s sites can’t be viewed by people in Canada. Users in Canada also can’t view news from organizations outside of Canada.

Google has threatened similar action.

Turtle Island News
Lynda Powless, publisher of Turtle Island News, says: ‘First Nations are in precarious positions to begin with … these are communities that just even have problems getting to the internet.’ (Aicha Smith-Belghaba/CBC)

The Online News Act will force large social media platforms to negotiate compensation for Canadian news publishers when their content is shared. The government says C-18 is about ensuring tech companies pay their “fair share” to media organizations.

Meta has countered that the only reasonable way to comply with the bill is to end news access in Canada.

CBC/Radio-Canada and other news publishers and broadcasters have asked Canada’s Competition Bureau to investigate Meta’s decision to block news content, describing the social media giant’s actions as “anticompetitive.”

CBC/Radio-Canada’s corporate position is that the Online News Act will help level the playing field and contribute to a healthy news ecosystem in Canada “at a time when 80 per cent of digital ad revenue goes to Facebook and Google,” spokesperson Leon Mar has previously said.

WATCH: Wildfire evacuees frustrated, angry at Meta’s Canadian news ban

Wildfire evacuees frustrated, angry at Meta’s Canadian news ban

12 days ago

Duration 2:04

Fire evacuees say the block on Canadian news content on Facebook and Instagram makes it even harder to get crucial wildfire information. Many in Canada’s North rely on the platforms, and some are now looking for workarounds to share info.

Meta has faced more criticism recently as wildfires have ravaged parts of the country and forced thousands of Canadians from their homes.

“Those fires affected a lot of First Nations communities that we service,” Powless said, adding that they have readers across the country.

In a statement to CBC Hamilton, Meta said the company has been “clear for many months that the broad scope of the Online News Act would impact the sharing of news content on our platforms.” 

It said people across Canada can still use its platforms to “connect with loved ones and access information, which is how more than 70,000 people have marked themselves safe and over 1.5 million people have visited the Yellowknife and Kelowna Crisis Response pages on Facebook.” 

‘It’s taking resources from an Indigenous newspaper’

Powless said Turtle Island News has used Facebook for live or breaking coverage in the past but hasn’t been able to do so since the news ban.

The Turtle Island News page doesn’t show any content at all and Powless said it happened without warning.

“How are we supposed to let our community know what’s happening in an urgent situation?” she said, adding that mainstream media outlets usually cover news Indigenous communities a day or two later than local Indigenous outlets.

She said the newsroom has tried to find ways around Meta’s efforts, but now the outlet is finding itself having to “re-train” readers about where to find news.

She said the newspaper is also developing an app.

“It’s taking resources from an Indigenous newspaper in a small Indigenous community,” Powless said, noting it has lost ad revenue.

She hopes Meta will back down and end its news ban.

“You have people who are fighting fires, all kinds of climate change issues in First Nations communities … we’re there and we can’t get the word out,” Powless said, speaking about Indigenous media outlets broadly.

“That’s a serious problem and the kind of problem that costs people’s lives.”

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

News

Langford, Heim lead Rangers to wild 13-8 win over Blue Jays

Published

 on

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night.

Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.

Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.

“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”

Heim was 1-for-34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.

Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.

Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.

Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).

“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”

Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.

Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.

“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.

The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.

Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major-leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.

AP MLB:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

News

Billie Jean King set to earn another honor with the Congressional Gold Medal

Published

 on

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”

The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.

King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”

___

AP tennis:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

News

Account tweaks for young Instagram users ‘minimum’ expected by B.C., David Eby says

Published

 on

SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.

The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.

Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.

Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”

He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.

In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending