According to a report by news agency Reuters, this trial period will last for several weeks and a small percentage of Canadian users enrolled in the trial will be notified if they attempt to share news content.
Why is Facebook limiting Meta News on Instagram?
Meta, along with other companies such as Googlehave been against Canada’s proposed “online news act“. Under the act, which was introduced in April last year, the legislation would force companies to negotiate commercial deals and pay Canadian news publishers for their content.
Earlier in March this year, Facebook’s parent company warned that if the proposed bill was passed in its current form, it would end the availability of news content for Canadians on its platform.
what canada has to say
According to Pablo Rodriguez, the Canadian Heritage Minister who introduced the bill last year, the tests are “unacceptable”.
“When a big tech company … tells us, ‘If you don’t do this or that, I’m pulling the plug’ — that’s a threat. I’ve never done anything because I was afraid of a threat,” The publication quoted Rodriguez as saying.
Google also tested limited news in Canada
Earlier this year, Google also began similar tests blocking news content for some Canadian users as a test run for its possible response to the online news bill.
“We are briefly testing potential product reactions to Bill C-18 that affect a very small percentage of Canadian users. We run thousands of tests each year to assess any potential changes in the search, A Google spokesperson was quoted as saying in Feb.
It said the time-limited tests affected a random sample of less than 4% of users in Canada, “limiting the visibility of Canadian and international news to varying degrees.”