One Year Later: The Impact of Bill C-18 and Meta’s News Ban in Canada

It has been a year since Bill C-18, the Online News Act, led Meta to block news content on Facebook and Instagram in Canada. The legislation aimed to compensate news outlets when their content is shared on social platforms, but Meta chose to block news access instead of paying local news outlets. While Google agreed to pay $100 million annually to Canadian news outlets, Meta remains firm in its ban.

So, what has changed? According to the Media Ecosystem Observatory (MEO), Canadian news outlets saw an 85% drop in engagement on Meta platforms, with an overall 43% decline in news content engagement. About one-third of local news outlets have gone inactive on social media, and Canadians are now consuming 11 million fewer news views per day on Facebook and Instagram. This shift has driven more Canadians to unreliable and biased sources for political and current event information.

Trying to view news content on Facebook or Instagram in Canada? You will likely be greeted by this message instead. 

Calgary journalist Mario Toneguzzi notes that the ban has forced journalists to adapt, using link trees and non-news sites to direct readers to their content. Despite the intent of Bill C-18 to support journalism, layoffs continue, and the benefits remain unclear. “News is hurting,” says Toneguzzi, but “where’s the benefit?” The money from the Google agreement has yet to flow to news organizations, meaning most are in a worse position financially and for readership or viewership than they were a year ago.

Toneguzzi notes that analytics are more difficult as a result of the Meta ban, meaning outlets and journalists are less able to understand their readership than before. It’s also putting more work on the plate of journalists who are trying to find new and additional ways to get eyes on their content. 

Darren Krause has been working in journalism for years with Metro and now with his own publication, Livewire Calgary. He says the ban from Meta has had a limited impact on his publication. “We can’t even post a logo or an image, but social [media] has never been a great driver of traffic for us.” What would be more significant would have been no deal with Google. Krause says the majority of his views in 2023 were driven by search engines, with Google having the vast majority of those searches. 

The $100 million agreement between the federal government and Google has yet to lead to cash in the pockets of any news organizations, but Krause believes it will be significant for smaller news outlets when it does come. 

The Meta ban has also fueled the growth of alternative sites lacking the editorial standards of traditional news outlets, raising concerns about the quality of news available on social platforms. However, it’s important to remember that only Meta’s platforms are blocking news content. News stories remain available directly through media websites.

Despite these challenges, earned media still plays a vital role in storytelling and raising awareness. There’s hope that Meta may eventually negotiate with the Canadian government, restoring the ability to share reliable news on social media, thereby restoring a vital avenue for news dissemination in the digital age.