In its first step in its fight again Bill-C-18, Meta has blocked not only Oakville News' Instagram account but also the Instagram accounts of the Toronto Star and Narcity, amongst other Canadian news organizations.
Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp) and Google announced that they would eliminate Canadians' access to local and national news from their websites and apps after the Bill-C-18 act was passed by parliament.
Now referred to as Canada's Online News Act requires organizations like Meta and Google to distribute part of the income they receive in advertising when reposting or linking to Canadian news.
The Online News Act was an effort to provide news organizations with financial resources allowing them to pay journalists when Meta and Google co-opted their traditional source of advertising revenue.
Similar legislation was passed by Australia and Spain, to which the two controllers of online news disseminators have decided to pay news organizations and re-established news access to Australians and Spaniards.
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Oakville News will continue to post on all its social media feeds, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), and Linkedin.
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