Underlining the dichotomy Canadian News organizations are experiencing in the latest move in the war Canadian News organizations are waging with social media, News Media Canada, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and CBC/Radio-Canada have applied to Canada’s Competition Bureau to investigate Meta’s decision to block news content from its digital platforms in Canada. A news release announcing the application reads, in part, “Meta’s practices are clearly designed to discipline Canadian news companies, prevent them from participating in and accessing the advertising market, and significantly reduce their visibility to Canadians on social media channels. The application underlines the love-hate relationship between Canadian media and the social media giants. While the news media resent seeing their content forming a significant part of the social media offering for free, they also rely on distribution on the same social media to enhance their own online audience and bolster revenue. The Canadian bill stipulates that to qualify for compensation, a news organization must employ two journalists, which pretty much excludes hundreds of proprietor-only websites.
