“In response to Canadian government legislation, news content cannot be displayed in Canada” : on the Facebook pages of Canadian daily newspapers such The Globe and Mail, Tea Vancouver Sun Or THE Duty in Quebec, and all public radio and television networks, such as CBC-Radio-Canada, as well as private ones, like Global News, display the same warning.
1er August, Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, carried out its threat: no information content is anymore visible on its pages in Canada, whether from Canadian or foreign media. The group thus intends to protest against – and ultimately escape – the law known as “C-18”, adopted by the Canadian Parliament on June 22, which wants to force digital giants to negotiate financial agreements with the publishers whose publications they distribute. contents.
After more than a month of blackout, traditional press companies, which use social networks mainly in a marketing approach in order to increase their subscriptions, remain discreet about the immediate impact of such a blockage. On the other hand, the pure players are already measuring its devastating effects.
Adapt the distribution strategy
Philippe Lamarre, creator and director of Urbania, a digital media group, noted a 35% drop in traffic to his site in August. “For the audience I am addressing, 18-35 year olds, we no longer exist, he notices. Young people are used to seeing journalistic content come to them by scrolling through their Facebook or Instagram feed. They are no longer exposed to any information. » If this press boss is worried about this “democratic risk”above all, it measures, in the immediate future, the urgency of having to adapt its distribution strategy.
The Canadian media, notably the Association of Broadcasters, unanimously applauded the adoption of the law in June, welcoming the desire of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to want to rebalance the balance of power with the digital heavyweights, accused to get rich on their backs, by capturing on their platforms alone up to 80% of the approximately 14 billion Canadian dollars (9.8 billion euros) in online advertising revenue recorded in 2022 in the “land of ‘maple’.
But it is now the concern that prevails: faced with the intransigence of Meta, which prefers to make them invisible and do without their content, the hope of receiving a few hundred million dollars under “fair compensation” promised by the law is moving away. Mezza voce – because they continue to show their solidarity with the new Canadian legislation – several of these media executives are urging the government to find a way out. To date, however, no compromise seems to be in sight.
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