Meta has announced that it will block access to links containing news articles on Facebook and Instagram in Canada. The decision comes in response to the passing of the Online News Act, a law wanted by the Canadian government and due to come into force in about six months, which obliges big tech companies to pay publishers to publish their content on their respective digital platforms. On one side are, therefore, the country’s authorities and publishing companies; on the other, Meta, Google and other companies benefit from journalists’ work on their respective social media or digital systems.

Why web giants should support publishers

The clash between the parties began in recent months. Google started to black out certain news items on 9 February precisely in reaction to the bill, also known as Bill C-18, justifying the five-week choice as a test involving less than 4% of Canadian users. As is almost always the case in these cases, money is at the centre of the dispute. The Canadian government wants to provide money to newspapers to help them get back on their feet after the advent of the Internet, which has disrupted the way they are used and the accounts of publishing companies.

The government introduced the law in question in April 2022 with the idea of forcing the digital giants to compensate publishers to make up for the imbalance between the parties, measured by the Canadian parliament also with the disappearance of a third of jobs in the journalistic field, which occurred after the advent of digital. The aim is to find fair trade agreements without government influence, a hypothesis that is obligatory to achieve the desired result.

For the time being, there is no set figure to be guaranteed to publishers because each case must be assessed individually, also due to the different weights of the various newspapers. According to an estimate by a Canadian government agency, the Online News Act could allow publishers to earn up to about 290 million euro a year, and this is precisely why the other side is closing in on a rule that is defined as ‘neither sustainable nor practicable‘.

Meta and Google do not pay, but the law protects publishers

The most complicated aspect is convincing big tech to put their hands to their wallets, as Meta points out that sharing self-published content is a deliberate choice of journalists, with no one forcing them to do so. The upheaval brought about by social networks has, however, in fact, forced publishers to be present on the various platforms precisely to intercept that audience that tends to open the newspaper website no longer, spending time instead on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube and Twitch.

That’s why Meta said it would gradually block news for Canadian users on its platforms in the coming months, adding that links to articles make up less than 3% of the Facebook feed’s content and that newspapers and journalists benefit from publishing their work on social media.

Meta’s announcement comes after much skirmishing between the parties, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau already issuing a clear warning to big tech: “Internet giants would rather cut off Canadians’ access to local news than pay their fair share, and now they’re resorting to bullying tactics to try to get their way. They know it won’t work.

As much as everyone tends to want to see their claims recognised, C-18 provides that in the event of a failure to agree, publishers can initiate a compulsory bargaining process and go to an arbitration panel of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to obtain a binding decision. This scenario is unfavourable to big tech, even considering the precedents on similar issues.

US, Europe and others, a common battle

The Canadian proposal closely mirrors what the Australian government did in 2021, when a similar law was passed, with Google and Meta paying publishers a fee for the content they produced and shared on the platforms. The tech companies first blacked out the news pages, reinstating them after some concessions endorsed by the government. But then, the year after the law came into force, settlements were reached, with Meta and Google paying around $135 million annually to Australian newspapers.

What saves the big tech is that each country individually leads its battle to help its publishers and favour agreements that ensure they have money to reinvest in sustainable journalism in the medium to long term. This allows the tech companies to stall and implement the usual tactic of blocking news. But what would they do if so many countries stood together to force them to support publishers?

The most important game in this respect is played in the US, the largest and most lucrative market for all platforms. Faced with the vast power of big tech and their limited support for anything other than creators, US lawmakers are trying to find a solution to introduce a rule similar to what Australia and Canada have done. We are waiting for Europe to decide what to do.