Media Groups Quebecor, Cogeco, The press and CBC/Radio-Canada have decided to cut their advertising investments for meta-platforms – Facebook and Instagram – to protest the web giant’s print tactics.

“Any action by Meta aimed at circumventing Canadian law, blocking journalistic news, or adversely affecting access to Canadian media content on its platforms in any way, algorithmic or otherwise, cannot be tolerated,” he said Pierre Karl Péladeau, CEO of Quebecor, on Wednesday morning in a press release. The company owns The Journal of MontrealThere And The Journal of Quebec.

Cogeco announced that it would follow this example. “It’s a shaky ecosystem and an attack on our democracy. By changing the algorithms so that there are no more messages [accessibles] For the public, Meta also controls the news. It’s serious,” Cogeco Media President Caroline Paquet said on 98.5 FM Wednesday morning.

The press also stated in an email to the Duty no longer wants to invest in Meta, adding that reliance on social media ads has been low for several months.

In the end, CBC/Radio-Canada eventually followed suit. “We join the voices of other Canadian media in demanding that Canadians’ access to news – all news from all media, whether public or private – be protected,” the public broadcaster said in a press release.

In an open letter published Wednesday morning, Radio-Canada’s director general of information for French services, Luce Julien, has already denounced the stance taken by Meta and Google. According to her, by attacking “the plurality of voices and viewpoints” the giants of the internet are “attacking our ability to make informed decisions about our democratic lives, our health and our safety”.

Any action by Meta aimed at circumventing Canadian law, blocking journalistic news, or in any way, algorithmic or otherwise, interfering with access to Canadian media content on its platforms cannot be tolerated.

According to Quebecor’s big boss, Meta’s stance “contradicts any ethical value of a company that believes in the importance of access to reliable and quality content necessary for a healthy democracy.”

On his side, The duty said to look into this possibility. “The amounts spent by The duty on Google and Facebook are marginal compared to other media. We are seriously considering this possibility, but await the pace of negotiations on Bill C-18,” said Brian Myles, editor of the daily.

The media move comes a week after Meta announced the upcoming suspension of Canadian media news on its platforms in response to Ottawa’s passage of the Online News Act. Formerly known as Bill C-18, these regulations aim to force digital giants to share the revenue they generate from distributing Canadian media content.

Meta also recently canceled several licensing agreements it had with local media, including the Coops de l’information and The duty. The Meta GrantThe press Canadian was also separated.

It’s a disruptive ecosystem and an attack on our democracy. By changing the algorithms so that there are no more messages [accessibles] For the public, Meta also controls the news. It’s serious.

Note that Google, another giant targeted by the new law, also announced last week that links to Canadian media news will be removed from its search engine until the regulations come into effect.

Governments are called upon to act

According to Quebecor and Cogeco, the current situation requires that the various levels of government also take action. “In the case of the federal government, annual investments of 11 million US dollars are spent on this [Meta]while only $10 million of those budgets are invested across all Canadian broadcasters,” noted Cogeco.

Shortly after these public statements, the federal government rightly announced that it too would stop paying the multinational meta for advertising on social media Facebook and Instagram.

Earlier in the day in Quebec City, Prime Minister François Legault indicated for the first time that he had not yet reached the “boycott stage” of the Internet giants. Later that afternoon, he changed his mind and also announced that he would “stop all government advertising on Facebook until Meta resumes discussions on the application of Bill C-18,” “in solidarity with the media.”

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