08/17/2023
Dear Friend,
Last month, Meta’s news block went into effect.
In case this is the first time you’re hearing about it, let me give you a bit of context. On June 22nd, the Online News Act officially became law in Canada. This piece of legislation was designed to compel foreign tech giants to fairly compensate Canadian journalists and news publishers for content used on their platforms. It was passed by senators and democratically elected MPs. But rather than comply with a law adopted by a sovereign nation, Meta has come out swinging by pulling the plug on access to Canadian news on Facebook and Instagram.
In throwing their weight around like this, Meta is betting that Canadian users will keep flocking back to their platforms, no matter how much disdain they demonstrate for our laws and for our news media.
But what if we didn’t come back?
What if we decided together that we wouldn’t put up with Meta's bullying anymore? That the throttling of Canadian news was the final straw in our already tenuous relationship with Meta’s social media platforms, replete as they are with disinformation, hate and toxic content of every sort. What would they do then?
It’s time to find out. On August 23rd and 24th, join us in going dark on Facebook and Instagram.
For 48 hours, let’s give Meta a taste of what’s to come if they don’t change their tune and start respecting Canadian law. 48 hours may seem like an eternity in social media time, but the longer we hold out, the greater the cost we extract from them. At the end of the day, your eyeballs on Facebook and Instagram are the most valuable commodity Meta has. It’s time to hit them where it hurts.
