Canada to stop ads on Facebook, but sees path to settle dispute (updated)

COGECO

05/07/2023 18:41

(New throughout)
       OTTAWA, July 5 (Reuters) - 
    The Canadian government will stop spending some C$10 million
 ($7.5 million) per year on Facebook and Instagram ads amid a
dispute over a new law on paying online news publishers that the
Meta-owned platforms have opposed, Heritage Minister Pablo
Rodriguez said on Wednesday.
  
        The government still sees a path forward in resolving
the quarrel that has led to 
    Meta
     and Alphabet's  GOOGL.O  Google to say they would end news
access on their platforms in Canada, Rodriguez told reporters in
Ottawa.
        Google and Meta announced their moves after Bill C-18,
or the Online News Act, was passed into law last month. The
government is in the process of finalizing rules that would
require the platforms to share some advertising revenue before
the law is implemented by the end of this year.
  
    "We cannot continue paying advertising dollars to Meta while
they refuse to pay their fair share to Canadian news
organizations," Rodriguez said.
        The legislation was drafted after calls from Canada's
media industry for tighter regulation of internet giants to
allow news businesses to recoup financial losses suffered in the
years that Facebook and Google gained a greater share of the
online advertising market.
  
        "We believe we have a path forward and we're willing to
continue talking with the platforms," Rodriguez, who introduced
the legislation last year, said.
  
        Meta had no immediate comment. It has previously said
that news does not hold economic value for the company and news
organizations benefit from sharing their reports on Facebook.
  
        Canadian telecoms operator Quebecor  QBRb.TO  and
Cogeco, which runs radio stations in Quebec, also said on
Wednesday they would stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram
because of Meta's opposition to the new law.
  
        
  
($1 = 1.3277 Canadian dollars)

 (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, Editing by Nick
Zieminski)
 ((ismail.shakil@tr.com;))