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Trudeau Denounces Meta's News Block As Fires Force Evacuations (www.cbc.ca) 149

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CBC.ca: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blasted social media giant Meta on Monday over its decision to block local news as wildfires continue to force thousands of Canadians from their homes. "Right now in an emergency situation, where up-to-date local information is more important than ever, Facebook is putting corporate profits ahead of people's safety, ahead of quality local journalism. This is not the time for that," he said during a stop at the Island Montessori Academy in Cornwall, P.E.I. on Monday morning. "It is so inconceivable that a company like Facebook is choosing to put corporate profits ahead of ensuring that local news organizations can get up-to-date information to Canadians and reach them where Canadians spend a lot of their time -- online, on social media, on Facebook."

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has blocked Canadians from viewing news from Canadian outlets in response to the Liberal government passing its Online News Act, Bill C-18, in June. Google has threatened similar action. The law forces large social media platforms to negotiate compensation for Canadian news publishers when their content is shared. As a result, content from news providers in the North -- including CBC, the local newspaper The Yellowknifer and digital broadcaster Cabin Radio -- is being blocked and people can't access or share information from news sources on Facebook and Instagram, two of the most popular social media sites. In a statement sent to CBC News last week, the company said it's sticking to its position. It also said government sites and other sources that disseminate information aren't subject to the ban.
"This is Facebook's choice," said Trudeau. "We're simply saying that in a democracy, quality local journalism matters. And it matters now more than ever before, when people are worried about their homes, worried about communities, worried about the worst summer for extreme weather events we've had in a long, long time."

Meanwhile, Meta spokesperson David Troya-Alvarez said: "People in Canada are able to use Facebook and Instagram to connect to their communities and access reputable information, including content from official government agencies, emergency services and non-governmental organizations." Meta says it has activated a "Safety Check" feature that allows users to mark on their profile they're safe from the wildfires.
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Trudeau Denounces Meta's News Block As Fires Force Evacuations

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  • Repeal the law! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Ossifer ( 703813 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:09PM (#63789190)

    Ridiculous at this time to put extortion of public companies before citizen safety!

    • by ArmoredDragon ( 3450605 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:26PM (#63789228)

      Or at the very least, make an exception for emergencies. That would make sense, but that law wasn't intended to make sense, it was just intended as a shakedown, and now "think of the children" is the latest card they're trying to play.

      • by Roger W Moore ( 538166 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @11:42PM (#63789580) Journal

        Or at the very least, make an exception for emergencies. That would make sense,

        No, it would not make any sort of sense at all. Facebook should never, ever be used as a reliable source of information in an emergency. Its algorithms select things for you to read based on what generates the most clicks, not on what is most accurate or pertinent.

        It's bad enough that people trust it to be their source of news on a normal day leaving them misinformed but inaccurate, out-of-date, or just plain wrong information can kill in an emergency. A responsible government interested in public safety would be pushing that message, not, like Trudeau is, trying to score political points against them using misdirected public anger.

        • It makes sense if they REALLY want to depend on fecebook for that. Whether that's what they really want, and it's plausible that they don't, is another matter.

        • by Teun ( 17872 )
          Just what I was about to post, the Meta's of this world are totally unreliable.
          Just the fact they could copy information from reputable sites already shows the information is available for all, no need for 'news' via Facebook.
          And Trudeau should better start to understand this.
          • by kenh ( 9056 ) on Wednesday August 23, 2023 @09:54AM (#63790552) Homepage Journal

            In a statement sent to CBC News last week, the company said it's sticking to its position. It also said government sites and other sources that disseminate information aren't subject to the ban.

            Canadians are free to share official information direct from government sources, why isn't tgat sufficient?

            I like how Trudeau is pretending he didn't support the law that Meta/Facebook/Instagram cite as their reason for blocking Canadian news outlets, arguing "Aw, come on - you can afford it, just pay them".

          • by RedK ( 112790 )

            > Just the fact they could copy information from reputable sites already shows the information is available for all, no need for 'news' via Facebook.

            How are Slashdotters so damn tech illiterate these days ?

            Where do you think the News on Facebook comes from exactly ? It's literally News channels reposting LINKS to their websites. Instead of having to go to 10 websites, you can just subscribe to the 10 news channels, including Slashdot btw, on Facebook, and it gets pushed to your feed automatically. Lik

        • by fafalone ( 633739 ) on Wednesday August 23, 2023 @07:31AM (#63790208)
          Maybe it shouldn't, but during Superstorm Sandy here it was the best resource by miles. Not because of the news, but because the official channels couldn't compete with people all over town posting what was going on right around them. Official services were better for some things, but knowing where was accessible, where had power, what stores were open, where device charging trucks were parked (Verizon parked several trucks around here and let people hook up lots of power strips so the neighborhood could charge their phones/tablets/laptops), and more, Facebook was indispensable. It was the official channels that were more often out of date or wrong; they didn't even bother to state when their info was current of, where on FB you can see when a post was made.
        • It shouldn't... sure. But what should be and what is are sometimes not the same thing. Back when Myspace was still the hot thing, some friends of mine got trapped on Ko Tao during one of Thailand's occasional coups. Well, they could have taken the ferry to Ko Samui; but the airport there was shut down so there would have been no point. But the actual point is that the phone lines and cell towers were down at the time as well.

          So how were they able to get work out to those of us back in the US who were wo

    • by Kunedog ( 1033226 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:52PM (#63789278)
      . . . if you aren't the one paying, you are the product.

      I guess the bizarre corollary is that if you're not paying AND you are passing laws to force the service provider to pay if they happen to provide the service product you're demanding, then you are the whiny, insufferable cockknob tyrant politician.
      • by Wrath0fb0b ( 302444 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @10:42PM (#63789514)

        AND you are passing laws to force the service provider to pay if they happen to provide the service product you're demanding, then you are the whiny, insufferable cockknob tyrant politician.

        You forgot the best AND! You pass laws that demand that service providers stop "taking content without paying" (whatever that means) AND you get upset when they stop doing the thing you wanted them to stop.

        Literally the whole thing was "don't link to Canadian news outlets without paying them" and Meta complying.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by johnnys ( 592333 )

      Don't believe the narrative being peddled here!!

      What is really happening is that the "Liberal" government of Canada got caught trying to scam Meta and Google into paying a huge amount of money to the government's favourite news outlets. You know, the ones that only report on stories that make the government look good!

      Background:

      The fact is that most "news organizations" benefit in one important way from the platforms built by Meta and Google, in that platforms used to directly and indirectly provide exposur

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

      Indeed. Trudeau could use his emergency powers that he's so fond of you prevent the legislation he himself passed that lead to this outcome to be deferred for the time of an emergency. There's plenty of precedent for this.

      This is denunciation by the guilty party of the innocent party. C-18 was a domestic propaganda deferred funding bill, that was aiming to move parts of the funding from government budget and toward the people via de facto taxing facebook. Considering the scope of emergency power Trudeau est

      • > Indeed. Trudeau could use his emergency powers that he's so fond of you prevent the legislation he himself passed that lead to this outcome to be deferred for the time of an emergency. There's plenty of precedent for this.

        But isn't the law already not yet in effect ?

        • by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

          How many laws already in effect were deferred by emergency powers during the pandemic?

          • > How many laws already in effect were deferred by emergency powers during the pandemic?

            Maybe I wasn't clear. After a bit of searching, it seems the law in question, C-18, has not yet come into effect and won't be in effect for while.

            That said, I'm not sure how to qualify what Meta is doing.

            • by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

              It comes in effect no later than 180 days after June 22nd, but the actual date is the date of receiving Royal Assent. Canada still has some interesting traditions from being a British colony.

              So it makes sense to build and deploy systems on the defending end ASAP the moment any law targeting you is passed to ensure that when Royal Assent is granted, you're not on the hook for payments. Again, official statement of guaranteed deferring of the bill past certain point and a request to facebook for temporary tur

    • by taustin ( 171655 )

      If there are people who only get emergency news through Facebook, Canada (and the rest of the world) is better off without them.

      This is nothing but Trudeau trying to benefit, personally and politically, from disastrous fires, and score points against Facebook for telling him to stuff it.

    • Re:Repeal the law! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Tony Isaac ( 1301187 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @10:39PM (#63789504) Homepage

      Yeah because sharing links to news stories on Facebook makes citizens safer...exactly how?

      Hey Aunt Erma, there's a fire up north, in cause you didn't somehow see the news that's plastered literally *everywhere*, here's a link! Wait, I can't share it here because it's blocked, so I hope you don't get incinerated before somebody sends you this link! Wait, you want me to *email* you the link? How does that work again?

      Yeah, OK, I'm not exactly buying all the consternation.

  • Gee Justin (Score:5, Insightful)

    by argStyopa ( 232550 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:10PM (#63789192) Journal

    ....how do you say "fuck around and find out" in Canadian?

    YOU passed a law that the social media services must pay for news they carry - you precluded the commercial ability to negotiate with government regulation.

    So the carriers likewise declined to participate in your bullshit.

    FAAFO.

  • by ArmoredDragon ( 3450605 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:11PM (#63789194)

    Canada decided to put newspaper profits ahead of public safety. I'm not at all a fan of fecebook, but you can't tell them it's illegal to allow people to link to that news without paying, and then get pissed off at them when they refuse to pay.

    • I had never heard of "The Yellowknifer" before now, and it took me less than 10 seconds to find their website without involving Facebook at all.
      Mr. Trudeau seems to think Canadians are too stupid to figure that out.
      • by Rhipf ( 525263 )

        I get what you are trying to say but you didn't find their website "without involving Facebook at all" since the only reason you heard about and search for the site was because Facebook blocked them. 8^)

  • macdicks (Score:5, Informative)

    by fluffernutter ( 1411889 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:12PM (#63789196)
    If people in Canada are so helpless that they don't know where the multitude of sources are for accurate information, then they are idiots. It's like thinking MacDonalds is a source of a healthy diet.
    • The news of the fires is literally plastered *everywhere.* There's no way anybody who is awake enough to find news shared with them on facebook, isn't seeing that same news coming at them from all other directions.

    • by RobinH ( 124750 )
      As a Canadian, I haven't had a Facebook account for well over a decade, and I have no problem finding news, local or otherwise. This is just a dumb pissing match between Meta and Canadian newspaper outlets, where the Canadian government has decided to side with the Canadian companies. It's just politics and can be safely ignored.
  • by FuzzMaster ( 596994 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:13PM (#63789200)

    The Canadian government can use its emergency alert system.

    I'm no fan of Facebook, but this is nothing more than attempting to pass the buck for being unable to handle the fires.

    • by Arethan ( 223197 )

      Yup! This is basic narrative manipulation at its finest.

      As they say in Washington (and probably a good many other places as well):

      "Never let a good disaster go to waste!"

      JT may have some pro mentors guiding him with the long ball, but he's really gotta work on his short game a bit to avoid looking like such an obvious clown.

  • by xjerky ( 128399 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:13PM (#63789202)

    ....so what Trudeau is saying is that local news SHOULD be free?

    • We pay over a billion dollars a year for the CBC.
      They have hundreds of millions in handouts for other friendly media.

      News is far from free.

      • We pay over a billion dollars a year for the CBC

        So...it's already paid for by tax money, and they want facebook to pay them even more for it. OK, got it.

  • by Guspaz ( 556486 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:13PM (#63789206)

    You made it illegal to freely link to news articles, so Facebook stopped linking to news articles. What did you think was going to happen? This is all 100% on you.

    • by iAmWaySmarterThanYou ( 10095012 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:31PM (#63789240)

      But, but, but nooooo! This isn't what we wanted! FB was just supposed to pay us monnneeeeyyy!!!

      Make it stooooop!

      Shitty governments make bad policy decisions all the time but never figure out that the people impacted by their decisions will actually respond and change their behavior to avoid the punishment and the end result is rarely what the government clowns wanted to happen.

  • by hoofie ( 201045 ) <mickey@mou s e .com> on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:17PM (#63789214)

    Facebook is not a public radio or TV broadcaster nor a Government Organisation.

    It is under no obligation to share anything.

    Sounds likes Trudeau is trying to divert the peoples attention by pointing towards a big, bad private company so they don't see the failings of the State,

  • by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:20PM (#63789218)

    ...to remember depending on news, without Facebook or any other social media?

    God forbid a fire ever cause the predictable power and/or internet outage. Canadians apparently wouldn't know how to stop burning their hand on stove unless...Facebook is instructing them?

    Fuck right off with that lame excuse, Trudeau. I'm willing to bet you charge Canadians plenty of taxes for emergency broadcast systems that better be a hell of a lot more robust and reliable than the former R&D arm of Cambridge Analytica.

  • by Impy the Impiuos Imp ( 442658 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:33PM (#63789252) Journal

    in an emergency situation, where up-to-date local information is more important than ever, Facebook is putting corporate profits ahead of people's safety,

    Ironically, Canada is putting profits ahead of people's safety, too.

    One is backed by police and even more profit, uhhh, for government.

    To sum up: "Ignore our laws we self-inflicted. Trust us, we won't come after you."

  • by Talondel ( 693866 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @07:44PM (#63789268)
    "Government Seeks Someone to Blame for Consequences of its Own Actions"
    • "Government Seeks Someone to Blame for Consequences of its Own Actions"

      Sadly, several days ago I pointed out in a Slashdot article about Canada demanding Meta back down that it was just some whining nobody ministers of nothing important. I was correct. Now... I'm ashamed that our Prime Minister has joined the whining and worse... is a whining hypocrite.

      I've got little beef with him and his party in general, and I genuinely fear our next federal government will be lead by Pierre Poilievre who shows every sign of being another hateful, Trump/Desantis-style bigot but damn...

      • Everything Trudeau has ever done has been like this. Create a problem, blame other people, steal credit if it ever gets resolved.

  • Fuck Trudeau (Score:2, Insightful)

    And fuck you for voting for him. With regard to Facebook.. Trudeau decided to fuck around. Now heâ(TM)s finding out.
  • Facebook should NOT be used for news

    • I have no love for Facebook, or social media in general, but we used to suggest that people should not trust a single news source, instead should read multiple sources in order to try and find the truth that will lie somewhere in between all of the various spin and slants.

      There are many means to achieving that end, but it occurs to me that social media has the potential to do that and more. Not only do people share various sources, but they are occasionally the sources themselves. I think part of the the "t

  • I despise this, but I'm going to have to side with Meta on this one. Perhaps they should suspend the Online News Act for the duration. Helping people in need is one thing, but I'll be damned if I'm going to support a demand to pay in order to be allowed to help out.

  • What's really happening Trudeau is getting increasing shit from his own people for the effects of the law and is simply leveraging the current situation as a means of deflection. Only problem is nobody is buying what he's selling.

  • Just TAX them (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Dixie_Flatline ( 5077 ) <.vincent.jan.goh. .at. .gmail.com.> on Tuesday August 22, 2023 @09:10PM (#63789402) Homepage

    These link taxes are meaningless and stupid obfuscation. Want to fund Canadian journalism? Just give them money. Need to raise funds to do that that aren't individual taxpayers? Tax these companies. Just make them pay the taxes they're dodging.

    I hate Facebook but this is the most absurdly stupid way to wrong money out of a corporation and give it to the wrong people I've seen in a long time. (Make no mistake, Post Media is fucking trash and they can collapse and die and Canada would be better off for it. They should be funding smaller journalism outlets if they want to fund any at all.)

    • Want to fund Canadian journalism? Just give them money.

      They already do. Almost all Canadian journalism is government-subsidised.

  • If the government is doing such a bad job informing people that they need to rely on Facebook to trickle the news out somehow, well, maybe the problem isn't Facebook.

    • Yep. This is just a totally unnecessary and stupid pissing match as the government uses the wildfires to try and force Facebook to cave. It's embarrassing.

      Not only do we have enough mechanisms to get news out through other means... anybody who relies on Facebook for their news to the exclusion of all those other methods to the point they'd be left behind in an emergency evacuation is a moron anyway. We'd be better off letting those people burn, if they actually existed, which I'm extremely confident they

    • Well, it couldn't possibly be the fault of the people in charge, they can hardly be held responsible for their actions or the consequences. So, it must be Facebook's fault, who else is left?
  • Fuck Meta, but they are absolutely correct about the government's job, even if not far enough. If you're going to rely on a private for-profit company to do a public service, you are unfit for governing, beholden by stupid, crumbling ideology that can never save itself from the crisis it creates.
    Fund newspapers and manage the emergency communication services, or get out of the way.

    • by vbdasc ( 146051 )

      If you're going to rely on a private for-profit company to do a public service, you are unfit for governing

      This is not a problem actually, but only if the said company agrees and is paid properly for its service. Not when the company is blackmailed, forced to provide that service and charged money to provide it on top of that.

    • Indeed, I sometimes get emergency text messages on my phone about abducted children, but that same service can't be used for other emergencies? This is yet another stupid "leadership" decision.

  • by lpq ( 583377 ) on Wednesday August 23, 2023 @12:24AM (#63789616) Homepage Journal

    It is facebook that is blocking canadian local news sites -- for inclusion on facebook.

    Isn't this only a problem for those who rely on a social platform for their news? The law
    taxes inclusion of news on social sites.

    If citizens have some emergency, can't they access local news websites directly?

    It seems canada is taxing lazyness and trying to encourage direct access to local
    news sources, so those local websites have a chance at making money off of ad-revenue
    like local newspapers used to do.

    Characterizing the law as 'bad', seems like the height of laziness for Canada trying to
    get citizens to support their local media directly, rather than through curated links
    provided through a social service like Facebook that has been noted for providing biased
    viewpoints of topics in the past.

    • It seems to me that my government should promote our Canadian news websites instead of continuing to allow people to see Facebook as a reliable source of anything. This is a missed opportunity.

  • by sonoronos ( 610381 ) on Wednesday August 23, 2023 @05:47AM (#63790020)

    Step 1: Journalists write stories about how evil Meta is for linking to their news stories.
    Step 2: Journalists lobby the government to force Meta to stop linking to their stories.
    Step 3: Government bans Meta from linking to news stories.
    Step 4: Journalists write stories about how evil Meta is for not linking to their stories.

    Silly, silly journalists.

  • {looks back at 2020}

    But, but ... I thought that private social media companies could censor whatever they wanted to, and that that was a good thing?

    {softly} Or is that only when the censorship is approved by certain political parties or government officials?

  • ... you guys don't have to prove Ayn Rand right so often.

    (But then again, maybe you do.)

  • Can't Canadians just visit the websites of their local news sources? Why is that so hard?

    • Because stupid people are addicted to Facebook and can't even imagine there are other websites on the web.

      I keep getting people who want to talk to me via Facebook messenger instead of iMessage. Or sell my stuff via Facebook Marketplace instead of Kijiji or eBay. They're baffled when I give them my email which is on my own domain. The list goes on.

  • Don't go pointing fingers when you yourself are to blame for what has happened. If you didn't pass that law there wouldn't have been a problem. Now you see the consequences of your own choices and start to complain.
    No, in this case Facebook isn't the bad guy here.

  • Canada deserves every bit of this. The internet is built on the concept of open access. If you want to profit from that, you need to find some way in order to do so and not whine when your model doesn't work or generates a backlash.

    It's my guess Meta will not back down.

  • by sabbede ( 2678435 ) on Wednesday August 23, 2023 @07:17AM (#63790190)
    Who would have thought! It's almost like actions have consequences, or even that ill-conceived actions have mostly unpleasant consequences. One may even think that hurting someone means they might not be inclined to help you in the future.

    But of course that's absurd. It would mean that Trudeau's perfect intentions might somehow not result in perfect outcomes.

  • In case Trudy hasn't noticed, only Canada is charging for news links, and only they are without them. Whose choice is it again?
  • Canadian government:

    "Waah, people are linking to news sites without paying for their data. Let's make that illegal."

    Also Canadian government:

    "Waah, people now can't share info from news sites that might have really important lifesaving information 'cuz we made it illegal. Waaah."

    Actions have consequences. Which is a really good reason to try to think things through, such as unintended negative consequences, before making sweeping changes such as this. Also a really good reason to roll back those changes

  • Get your news somewhere else than fucking Facebook.
    Stop being dependant on a single place, otherwise you are a slave to that place.
    Always have multiple options for everything in your life.

    • by RedK ( 112790 )

      > Stop being dependant on a single place

      Using Facebook or Twitter for news means getting your news for multiple places.

      It's just basically a modern RSS aggregator. You follow a bunch of news sources, and their content gets aggregated into a single view, so you don't have to hop around to read the day's happenings.

  • ... but not "my" Prime Minister, as the saying goes. I don't care for the man.

    I don't agree with him. No matter what he thinks "should" be true, Facebook is not, never has been, and never should be a source of anything significant in an emergency.

  • He is an idiot.

Their idea of an offer you can't refuse is an offer... and you'd better not refuse.

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