The ban by Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has rankled Canadian authorities trying to share evacuation information this week across a remote swath of the country where social media is key to disseminating news. “What Meta is doing currently is unacceptable,” said Pablo Rodriguez, Canada’s transportation minister, at a news briefing Friday. Officials in Canada say the impact of the news ban has been evident during the wildfires crisis. “It’s like having your telephone taken away from you, or your radio taken away from you,” Tait said of the ban. Tait said she is asking Meta, at a minimum, to reverse the ban until the danger from the wildfires subsides.
