OTTAWA — Meta is set to block news articles for some Canadian users on its Facebook and Instagram social networks as part of a temporary trial expected to last most of June.
The company says it wants to fix some potential technical issues before permanently blocking news content on its sites when the Liberal government’s Online News Act takes effect.
The bill, currently before the Senate, would require digital giants to compensate news organizations when they create links or redirect their content to their networks.
Meta says the test will affect up to 5% of its 24 million users in Canada.
The US agency points out that randomly selected affected users will not be able to view certain content, including news links and “facts”, short videos and photos and video “stories”. Disappears after 24 hours.
Meta will randomly select certain media, which will inform certain users that they will not be able to view or share their news content throughout the experiment.
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Meta funds a limited number of grants that support emerging journalists at The Canadian Press.
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