Caught in the Crossfire: The Canadian Government v Social Media
Gonsalves | Local communities are collateral damage in the feud
“It's like Nineteen Eighty-Four - Who would ever have imagined that in Canada the federal government would pass laws banning people from effectively seeing the news?” - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre
In all the discussion about the Canadian Online News Act, Bill C-18, passed in June 2023, the focal point has been large scale tax avoidance and the impact to news organizations in Canada. It almost appears like a battle between tech giants, big government and large news corporations. But there are others caught in the crossfire who rarely get the attention but disproportionately suffer the impact.
Love it or hate it, social media has come to play a major role in our society. There is plenty to criticize on the internet, but it also offers significant advantage to many people who would struggle without the reach provided by the platforms.
Bill C-18 “requires big tech giants like Google and Meta to pay media outlets for news content they share or otherwise repurpose on their platforms”. In response to the Bill, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram has officially begun ending news availability on its platforms in Canada. “Canadians will no longer be able to view or post news content on Facebook or Instagram”. Google also plans to remove links to local Canadian news content. Their global affairs president, Kent Walker, called the Online News Act “unworkable” and an “uncapped financial liability”.
Lost in the discussion is the local level impact caused by this corporate game of chicken. “Police services across Canada are grappling with how they will relay emergency information, including breaking news and details of missing persons, once Meta begins permanently removing news from its social media platforms”. - The reality is a great deal of people use social media to stay connected to their local community. Local infrastructure and communication models are heavily dependent on these platforms to disseminate critical information in a timely manner.
The large news corporations have the financial capacity to develop, market and launch their own apps. But even that is not the best solution to the problem. News was once considered a social good, not merely a consumer product - By moving news to individual platforms we are more likely to unintentionally increase polarization by fragmenting the pool of available information.
“The Canadian law is modeled after a 2021 law passed in Australia, the first country to enact such legislation. At the time, Meta temporarily blocked sharing news links in Australia, before coming to a deal and lifting the ban”. Former heritage minister Pablo Rodriguez said he hoped the Liberal government could negotiate a similar agreement with Meta. But the Australian law was different because it allowed the company to negotiate private deals with publishers outside of the framework of the regulations. C-18 does not.
Local news, opinion editorials, community safety stories and coverage of local politics have a major influence on community health and integration. People may still download a free news app, some may even subscribe to a news outlet for full access to all their digital content, most won’t, and the majority that do subscribe will utilize a limited number of news sources - thereby reducing their exposure to divergent viewpoints.
For all its ills, social media created a market place of ideas, and much like real societies, it is a messy marketplace complete with, contradictions, conflicts, and actors with bad intent. But, outside of some utopian ideal, those features exist in every society, real and virtual. One could argue they are a characteristic of the human condition.
Conflicting views, divergent thinking, varied perspectives are all central features of a healthy democracy; perhaps more than just the corporate giants and government actors, we should also consider the impact to local communities caught in the crossfire and likely to become collateral damage in the feud.
Bio: Neil Gonsalves is an Indian-born Canadian immigrant who grew up in Dubai, U.A.E. and moved to Canada in 1995. He is an Ontario college professor, a TEDx speaker, a columnist, a recreational dog trainer and an advocate for new immigrant integration and viewpoint diversity.
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