Fb threatens to dam information content material over Canada’s revenue-sharing invoice

OTTAWA, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Fb warned on Friday that it could block sharing of stories content material on its platform in Canada over considerations about laws that may compel digital platforms to pay information publishers.

The On-line Information Act, launched in April, laid out guidelines to drive platforms like Meta’s (META.O) Fb and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google to barter industrial offers and pay information publishers for his or her content material, in a transfer just like a floor -breaking legislation handed in Australia final yr. learn extra

The laws is into consideration at a parliamentary committee, to which the US social media firm stated it has not been invited to share its considerations.

“We imagine the On-line Information Act misrepresents the connection between platforms and information publishers, and we name on the federal government to evaluate its method,” Marc Dinsdale, head of media partnerships at Meta Canada, stated in a weblog submit.

“Within the face of adversarial laws based mostly on false assumptions that defy the logic of how Fb operates, we imagine it is essential to be clear concerning the risk that we could also be pressured to rethink permitting information content material sharing in Canada,” Dinsdale wrote.

Canada’s Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, who launched the invoice, stated in a press release on Friday that the federal government continued to have “constructive conversations” with Fb.

“All we’re asking the tech giants like Fb to do is negotiate honest offers with information retailers once they revenue from their work,” Rodriguez stated in an emailed assertion.

The laws proposes that digital platforms which have a “bargaining imbalance” with information companies – measured by metrics like a agency’s international income – should make honest offers that may then be assessed by a regulator.

Dinsdale stated information content material was not a draw for Fb customers and didn’t carry vital income to the corporate.

When Australia, which has led international efforts to rein within the powers of tech corporations, proposed laws forcing them to pay native media for information content material, Google threatened to shut its Australian search engine, whereas Fb minimize all third-party content material from Australian accounts for greater than every week. learn extra

Each ultimately struck offers with Australian media corporations after a sequence of amendments to the laws have been provided.

Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, Modifying by Rosalba O’Brien

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