Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge says Meta throttling news about the Canadian wildfires is “hurting access to vital information on Facebook and Instagram.”.“We are calling on them to reinstate news sharing today for the safety of Canadians facing this emergency,” tweeted St-Onge. .“We need more news right now, not less.”.Western Standard publisher Derek Fildebrandt asked St-Onge to repeal Bill C-18 so it can have its coverage of the wildfires seen on Facebook. .“We don’t want it,” said Fildebrandt. .“We don’t need it.”.Overstory Media Group co-founder and CEO Farhan Mohamed mocked St-Onge for complaining about news being blocked. .“If only there was something you could do to change this,” said Mohamed. .Meta made good on threats to restrict access to news sites on July 18. .READ MORE: Meta begins throttling Canadian news outlets, including Western Standard.If people were trying to access the Western Standard on an iPhone, they might have received a message that read: “In response to Canadian government legislation, news content can’t be viewed in Canada.”.The restrictions appear to be selective at this point, depending on platform, device, and operating system..St-Onge said on August 2 Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is wrong about Bill C-18 making news disappear. .READ MORE: New heritage minister says Bill C-18 not making news disappear from the internet.“Facebook doesn’t want to pay their fair share and are making news disappear,” she said. .“Pierre Poilievre continues to stand up for the tech giants instead of Canada’s free and independent press.”
Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge says Meta throttling news about the Canadian wildfires is “hurting access to vital information on Facebook and Instagram.”.“We are calling on them to reinstate news sharing today for the safety of Canadians facing this emergency,” tweeted St-Onge. .“We need more news right now, not less.”.Western Standard publisher Derek Fildebrandt asked St-Onge to repeal Bill C-18 so it can have its coverage of the wildfires seen on Facebook. .“We don’t want it,” said Fildebrandt. .“We don’t need it.”.Overstory Media Group co-founder and CEO Farhan Mohamed mocked St-Onge for complaining about news being blocked. .“If only there was something you could do to change this,” said Mohamed. .Meta made good on threats to restrict access to news sites on July 18. .READ MORE: Meta begins throttling Canadian news outlets, including Western Standard.If people were trying to access the Western Standard on an iPhone, they might have received a message that read: “In response to Canadian government legislation, news content can’t be viewed in Canada.”.The restrictions appear to be selective at this point, depending on platform, device, and operating system..St-Onge said on August 2 Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is wrong about Bill C-18 making news disappear. .READ MORE: New heritage minister says Bill C-18 not making news disappear from the internet.“Facebook doesn’t want to pay their fair share and are making news disappear,” she said. .“Pierre Poilievre continues to stand up for the tech giants instead of Canada’s free and independent press.”
