Meta is running a test temporarily blocking news content for up to 5% of its Canadian users for most of the month. This testing phase started last week.

The company said it is working on an “effective product solution to end news availability in Canada” to comply with Bill C-18 if passed.

Paul Deegan, president of News Media Canada, said some Quebec newspapers were also banned from Facebook during the test, which he says represents an abuse of Meta’s dominant position.

“Meta has just exponentially increased the opportunities for malicious actors, including hostile foreign governments, to sow the seeds of misinformation and information manipulation that will ultimately harm the platform, undermine the value of its shareholders and threaten social cohesion,” Deegan explained.

“Democratic governments, regulators, law enforcement, publishers, advertisers and everyone around the world who values ​​a free and pluralistic press should be deeply concerned.”

Quebecor President and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau claimed earlier Tuesday that “Google and Facebook have started shutting down access to news to protest for not paying their fair share.”

Google and Facebook begin withdrawing access to news to protest for not paying their fair share. To preserve the quality of our information and our democracy, support local media by informing you indirectly on their platforms.

— Pierre Karl Péladeau (@PKP_Qc) June 13, 2023

Small local media were affected

Chris Dell, publisher of ChrisD.ca, a Winnipeg-based digital news platform, said some readers informed him Monday that they could no longer access content posted by the outlet on Facebook.

“From what we can see, Meta is blocking some of our content, but not all,” Dell said in a statement released Tuesday.

It regrets that such action is being taken in response Online News Actwhich would require tech giants to pay media companies to link to news content or otherwise reuse that content.

“As a small local news channel, most of our traffic comes from Facebook and Google. I hope an amicable settlement can be reached between Silicon Valley and Ottawa so publishers don’t get caught in the middle,” added Mr. Dell.

On Tuesday, a Senate committee completed its clause-by-clause review of the bill after a single two-hour session, passing about 12 amendments, most of which were accepted by the government.

The bill is expected to pass a third reading in the Senate this week.

The Liberal government has expressed its desire to pass the law ahead of parliamentarians’ summer recess, which will take place at the end of next week.