Well. We had our final vote on C-18 today. And even though the bill has not yet had Royal Proclamation, and has not yet come into force, Facebook has just announced it will be blocking all news in Canada. As, alas, I predicted. https://about.fb.com/news/2023/06/changes-to-news-availability-on-our-platforms-in-canada/ #SenateofCanada #Canada #cdnpoli #BillC18 #C18 #OnlineNewsAct #Facebook #Google #becarefulwhatyouwishfor
Although, I note, the language here is vague. Have they started blocking already? Will they begin when the bill gets Royal Assent? Or not till the bill comes into force? Is this just a bullying/bargaining position? Or are they quitting Canada cold turkey? The language is…um…opaque. #Canada #Facebook #Google #OnlineNewsAct #SenateofCanada
@Paulatics My understanding is that Facebook intends on blocking news links for everyone sometime before the bill comes into force. Right now, Facebook it just testing the blocks on 5% of users. So far, either I'm unaffected or my site is small enough to evade detection so far.
@freezenet They haven’t started yet, at least not as of Friday morning. My newsfeed is still full of news. So at this point, I think it may still be a matter of threats and bargaining posture. We’ll have to see. But the fact that they haven’t rolled out mass blocking as yet suggests that maybe this is all kabuki theatre.
@Paulatics By the way, is there a good way at tracking developments at the Governor in Council? I wouldn't mind knowing when they have decided to set dates for when the Online News Act comes into force if that's possible. I've... never looked into something like this before, admittedly.