Mark Zuckerberg's life isn't easy! In mid-February, the Australian government passed a bill that would force technology companies to pay for news published on their platforms, and now it's the turn of the In Canada consider the same, which would force Facebook to block the dissemination of news on the social network.
Kevin Chan, Facebook's head of policy in the country, met with a parliamentary committee and said any law that would force the social network to pay companies to share news goes against the foundation of a free and open internet.
Australian example
A Australia, in fact, has become a trend and this was the great fear of Google and Facebook. Back in February, Steven Guilbeault, the Canadian Heritage Minister, was already showing signs of flirting with a bill similar to the one that was proposed on the other side of the world. At the same time, Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, also promised that he would coordinate efforts with his Australian counterpart to pressure technology companies to pay for the content posted on their platforms.
Arm wrestling
Google and Facebook have been locked in a major dispute with the Australian government, with threats from both sides.
While the bill was being deliberated, Google threatened to pull its search service from the country and Facebook, after threatening to leave the country, blocked news stories, branded pages and links to news sites. Zuckerberg's network had errors in its algorithms and ended up blocking even charity pages, mistaking the posts for media news.
Everyone had to give in: the Australian government amended the milk bill, proposing that Google and Facebook be exempt from the law if they make voluntary agreements to contribute to local journalism. Now, we have to wait and see how the dispute will play out in Canada and whether Facebook will also block news there to pressure the government to relax the legislation in its favor.
Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. CNet
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