TORONTO — News outlets say they’ve been unable to post on Meta’s social media sites some or all of the time since the digital giant began rolling out its restrictions on Canadian news in response to federal legislation.
CBC spokesperson Kerry Kelly says in an email that the company has noticed inconsistencies when posting on Facebook and Instagram, including instances where content submitted does not get posted.
A spokesperson for Bell, which says some account users are still able to post to the brand’s accounts, while others cannot.
In mid-July The Tyee’s founding editor David Beers wrote a story saying the outlet was blocked from posting news stories on Instagram and Threads.
Meta directed requests for comment to its published explanation of the restrictions, which says pages and accounts run by Canadian news organizations can post content but that viewers in Canada won’t be able to see those posts.
Meta was previously testing news limitations for some users but at the beginning of August said it will remove news for all Canadian users within a few weeks as part of its response to the federal government's Online News Act, which would force the company to compensate media outlets for content on its platforms.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2023.
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The Canadian Press
