Canadian news industry groups asked the country’s antitrust watchdog on Tuesday to investigate Meta Platforms’ decision to block news from its platform in Canada, accusing Facebook’s parent company of abusing its dominant position.
Last week, Meta began blocking news on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada in response to a law requiring internet giants to pay for news articles.
Canada’s Online News Act, which became law in June but has yet to take effect, is part of a global trend requiring tech companies to pay for news. The government is finalizing rules that will require the platforms to share some of the advertising revenue when the law is implemented later this year.
“By deciding to block news content on its digital platforms, Meta seeks to impair the ability of Canadian news organizations to compete effectively in the news publishing and online advertising markets,” the news industry group said in its application to Canada’s Competition Bureau.
The application, filed by industry bodies Canadian News Media, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada, asks the Competition Bureau to investigate Meta and prevent it from blocking news.
“Meta’s anti-competitive conduct has drawn the attention of regulators around the world, which will strengthen its already dominant position in advertising and social media distribution, and harm Canadian journalism,” the applicant said in a statement.
A spokesman for the Competition Bureau confirmed it had received a complaint from Canadian news industry groups and was conducting an initial review of the matter.
“The Competition Bureau is gathering information to consider whether such conduct falls within the purview of the Competition Act, including the ways in which this particular conduct may harm competition,” the spokesman said.
A Meta spokesperson referred to a statement released last week in which the company said Canadian law was based on the “false premise that Meta benefits unfairly from news content shared on our platform.”
Meta said users would not visit its platform for news, and forcing the company to pay for content shared on its platform was not sustainable for its business.
Ottawa said the company currently has no legal obligation and accused Meta of refusing to participate in discussions when the final rule was drafted.
The Canadian media industry is calling for tighter regulation of internet giants to allow news businesses to make up for financial losses as Facebook and Alphabet’s Google gain a bigger share of the online advertising market. Google also said it would block news from within Canada when the rule takes effect.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
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