Justin Trudeau slams Facebook for blocking news on Canada’s wildfires

Toronto: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Facebook on Monday of putting profit above people’s safety during emergencies triggered by the country’s record wildfires. A new law, the Online News Act, has been passed in Canada to make it mandatory for digital companies to pay relevant media organizations for all content shared or modified on their platforms. In protest of this law, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced that it would block Canadian news content on its platform.

Under the ‘Online News’ Act passed in Canada, Google and Meta are required to enter into agreements with news publishers. Under this agreement, both the companies will pay news publishers for the news appearing on their respective websites, which has helped them earn. Thousands of people had to leave their homes and go to safer places in the incidents of forest fires in Canada.

“This is an emergency and people need up-to-date information more than ever,” Trudeau said during a news conference in Cornwall, Prince Edward Island. In such a situation, Facebook is putting corporate profit above the safety of the people. ‘It is unimaginable that a company like Facebook is giving priority to corporate profit instead of ensuring that local news organizations are Canadian,’ he said. Can give the latest information to the people.

The government spoke to Meta on Friday about lifting the ban on Canadian news, but the company stood by its decision. Apart from Meta, Google’s parent company Alphabet has also announced the removal of links to news related to the country from its platform in Canada in protest against the new law, but has not yet implemented it. The ‘Online News Act’ is likely to come into force this year.