Bell and Cogeco have joined the growing coalition pulling advertising from Meta in response to the Online News Act.
Known as Bill C-18, it requires platforms like Meta and Google to pay Canadian news publishers to share their content. The bill received royal assent last month and will go into effect at a later date. Meta has stopped negotiations with the federal government on the matter and plans to end the sharing of news content on Facebook and Instagram.
In a press release, Cogeco says it pulled “advertising investments from Meta platforms.” In a message from Bell, the company specified it pulled advertising from Facebook and Instagram. Meta recently added Twitter-like Threads to its product lineup. However, advertising isn’t available on the platform yet.
“Like many Canadians, we are concerned about the consequences Meta’s decision to block links from Canadian news organizations will have on Canadians, and all those who reside or work here, all of whom should be able to rely on independent and trusted news from Canadian sources,” Wade Oosterman, the president of Bell Media, said.
Québecor pulled its advertising funding on the morning of July 5th. The federal government followed the move soon after.
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