Canadians unable to view “The Daily Moth” on Facebook due to Bill C-18
Canadians are unable to view “The Daily Moth” videos on Facebook due to a dispute between the Canadian government and Meta/Facebook over a new law called the Online News Act, Bill C-18.
CBC explained that the new law says big tech companies like Meta and Google have to pay news outlets — such as “The Daily Moth” or CBS News or any other news service — for posting content and links on Meta.
Why? Lawmakers say that Meta/Facebook and Google and other big social media platforms generate millions of dollars in revenue from internet traffic whenever people view news content and should share a portion of that revenue with news companies.
Meta doesn’t agree with this idea. Meta said the law “misrepresents the value news outlets receive when choosing to use our platforms” — that Meta actually helps news companies by pushing their content to millions of people.
Meta’s response is to impose a block on Canadians’ ability to view news content on Facebook.
Unfortunately, this has affected Deaf Canadians’ access to news in ASL from “The Daily Moth” on Facebook. For now, I believe Canadians can view news on our YouTube account or www.dailymoth.com. But Google, which owns YouTube, said it plans to take the same approach as Meta in blocking news.
I don’t know how long Meta’s block will continue, but it may be a few months. The bill hasn’t gone into effect but it received Royal Assent (meaning it passed all the steps to pass out of legislature and become law). Canadian officials are working on creating a regulatory framework.
—-------
[Sponsored video from Convo: www.convorelay.com]
—--------
CBC said there was a similar law passed in Australia. Google threatened to shut down access to Google search there but later accepted a deal and now pays news providers for their content. Meta did the same, blocking news access in Australia until it reached a deal with their government.
The future is uncertain but Canadians can use YouTube for now to view “The Daily Moth.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/online-news-act-meta-facebook-1.6885634
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/understanding-bill-c-18-canada-s-online-news-act-explained-1.6488532