The cause is tech giant Meta’s retaliation to the Canadian Government’s Bill C-18, the Online News Act.
In June of this year, Bill C-18 became law. The bill was created with the intention of regulating “digital news intermediaries to enhance fairness in the Canadian digital news marketplace and contribute to its sustainability.”
As CBC's John Mazerolle reported, “The act says digital companies must pay news organizations when someone gets to a web story through a link on one of their products.” These “digital companies” include Google and Meta, the latter of which owns Facebook and Instagram. At this time, Google is continuing to negotiate with the government.
Meta in particular disagrees with the government’s approach, stating on their website that “…the legislation misrepresents the value news outlets receive when choosing to use our platforms. The legislation is based on the incorrect premise that Meta benefits unfairly from news content shared on our platforms, when the reverse is true. News outlets voluntarily share content on Facebook and Instagram to expand their audiences and help their bottom line.”
In response to the law, all Facebook and Instagram users are no longer able to view or share news articles, videos, audio, or even links posted by any news outlets. This applies to Canadian outlets as well as all those abroad. Outside of Canada, images have been removed from the Facebook posts of news outlets, impacting engagement and making the content less visible to these non-Canadian users as well.
When attempting to view affected news outlet pages, Meta explains that their review team “identifies news outlets based on legislative definitions… News outlets include undertakings whose primary purpose is to produce news content, in any format (including an audio or audiovisual format), that reports on, investigates or explains current issues or events of public interest.”
Meta’s response to the government’s bill has been widespread, blocking not only major publications but the nation’s smaller publications, from those that serve Indigenous peoples to newspapers for Estonian, Finnish, and Lithuanian communities. Even satirical news publications like The Beaverton have been affected.
If you use social media to access the news, this affects you negatively. You won’t see any posts from Eesti Elu / Estonian Life newspaper. For the sake of affecting negotiations, valuable community information will not reach community members as widely. Canadians’ access to information is being restricted.
Even if you don’t use social media at all, this matter still affects you. Social media is how Estonian Life reaches its community members. Social media is also how the newspaper reaches people outside of the community. It is one of the means through which Eesti Elu reports on the activities of Estonians in Canada and across the world. Moreover, Meta has dominated the ad market, taking a large percentage of ad revenue that used to go to traditional media.
As a small community non-profit, this standoff between big tech and the government prevents this major Estonian community hub from communicating with its readers. The blockage of Estonian Life’s posts on social media has already decreased its reach across Instagram and Facebook by 50%.
While they continue to advocate for their right to disseminate news online, the editorial team of Estonian Life has requested readers to help in the following ways:
1) Use the website: Estonian Life’s content is online and available 24/7. You can go directly to eestielu.ca to read content. There are new stories published throughout the week.
2) Subscribe: If you don’t have a subscription to Eesti Elu / Estonian Life, you can get one online, by email at eetalitus@eestielu.ca , or by calling 416-733-4550. Estonian Life has monthly and annual digital and print subscription options. Estonian Life’s editorial team asks for all family members and friends to get their own subscriptions and give subscriptions as a gift.
3) Sign up to Eesti Elu’s weekly email newsletter and receive the latest news by email. All new subscribers to the newsletter get 8 weeks of free digital Eesti Elu access.
4) Share Eesti Elu article links via email with friends, family members, and work colleagues.
5) Spread the word about what has happened with your family and friends.
In addition, the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) has taken the issue to the Government of Canada’s Competition Bureau. In this vein, readers can submit an advocacy suggestion to the Competition Bureau (www.competitionbureau.gc.ca), requesting the bureau to force Meta to reverse their blocking of news on Facebook and Instagram in Canada.
Eesti Elu / Estonian Life’s editorial team emphasizes that its long term continuance as a viable source of community information is dependent on each reader taking individual action.
