INTUSK MAGAZINE

Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc said on Saturday that if the country's Online News Act is passed in its current form, it will end the availability of news content for Canadians on its platforms.

The "Online News Act," also known as House of Commons Bill C-18, which was introduced in April last year, outlined regulations that would compel Google and Meta, two platforms owned by Alphabet Inc., to negotiate business agreements and pay news publishers for their content.

The action by Meta comes after Google began experimenting with limited news censorship as a possible response to the bill last month.

In order for the Canadian news media sector to recover the financial losses it has sustained over the years as tech behemoths like Google and Meta steadily increase their market share of advertising, the industry has asked the government for more regulation of tech companies.