Meta’s decision to ban Canadian news links on its Facebook platform appears to have had little-to-no effect on overall usage in the country, according to a new report by Reuters.
Various analytics firms have synthesized data and come to the conclusion that user engagement among Canadians has remained largely unchanged since implementing the policy on August 1st.
The Facebook and Instagram parent company made the decision to ban Canadian news links in response to the controversial ‘Online News Act’ that was passed back in June.
Otherwise known as Bill C-18, the legislation seeks to require major internet companies to pay publishers for the news articles being distributed on their platforms.
In a blog post dating back to June, Meta informed users of the change in news availability on its platform.
The federal government, for its part, has been vocal in its dissatisfaction with the big tech giant’s response to the bill.
Meta is not the only big tech player finding itself at odds with the Canadian federal government — Google also recently made the decision to remove news links from its search engine in response to the legislation being enacted.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Source: Reuters
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