Meta’s Attempts To Block Content Globally Put On Display
Meta's attempts to block certain content from being posted have sparked controversy, particularly in Australia and now in Canada. In 2020, the Australian government introduced the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code, which required tech giants like Google and Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) to negotiate payment agreements with news publishers. In response, Meta blocked Australian users from viewing news content and from sharing news links in order to circumnavigate this legislation. Moreover, the company “mistakenly” blocked pages belonging to hospitals and emergency services but anonymous sources from inside identified Meta’s withholding of hospital and emergency service information as a malicious negotiating tactic, meant to strong-arm Australia’s legislators into taking opposite action.
Meta is now prepared to block news content in Canada due to a similar bill called the Online News Act. Meta released a statement calling the act a piece of “fundamentally flawed legislation that ignores the realities of how our platforms work [and] the value we provide news publishers.” Despite this claim, Meta's internal data shows that news posts constitute less than three percent of the content shown in users' Facebook news feeds, and the majority of news links are shared by the publishers themselves.
“We believe that news has a real social value,” Rachel Curran, head of public policy for Meta, told the Canadian Press news agency. “The problem is that it doesn’t have much of an economic value to Meta. So we are being asked to compensate news publishers for material that has no economic value to us.” Meta’s bad faith statements are further contradicted by their status as a social media platform and by their claims that the platform does not receive much revenue from news sources at all, which calls into question why the company so vehemently opposes legislation that would benefit both parties.
In Canada, Meta is trying out a news-blocking test with a random group of users. These users are only informed of the block if they attempt to share a news link. Google, another major tech company, has also experimented with blocking news content in Canada, citing concerns about the “uncapped financial liability” it would face if forced to negotiate compensation with news publishers.
However, critics point out that these platforms dominate the online advertising market. The arguments put forth by Meta and Google have failed to sway those advocating for the Canadian bill, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Senator Paula Simons criticizing Google's decision to remove news links from search results. Simons in particular criticized Meta and Google’s threats as intimidation tactics. “If they’re trying to intimidate me, I don’t intimidate very easily,” she noted.
Meta continues to make threats against the information landscape, and those efforts are crossing into the United States. California is the newest target of their underhanded tactics, as the state is considering similar legislation. However, their desired concessions remain unclear—what, exactly, would Meta like in this legislation to make it fair and equitable for them? Blocking news access could lead to punitive actions against the platforms, proving more costly than payments for linking to news. Previous instances of news blockades by Google and Facebook have eventually been lifted, but the restoration process has sometimes taken considerable time.
Ultimately, Meta's threats in Australia proved to be a negotiating tactic, leading to modified legislation that allowed direct financial agreements between platforms and publishers. However, concerns have been raised about media organizations becoming overly reliant on tech platforms for funding, and about the uncontrolled growth of Big Tech as a whole. As Meta and Google face scrutiny in Canada and California, the outcome of these battles will likely impact other countries and states considering similar legislation. The struggle for revenue intensifies as news publishers advocate for compensation, emboldened by the success of the Australian settlement. Nevertheless, the fate of news access on these platforms remains uncertain, with users, desperate for clear, concise, and reliable news-caught in a crossfire that is not of their own making.
