Quebecor withdraws advertising from Meta
By Derek Winkler
Montreal-based media company Quebecor has withdrawn all advertising by its subsidiaries and business units from social media services Facebook and Instagram. According to the company, the move is in response to a recent decision by Meta, parent company of the two services, to block all Canadian journalistic content on those services to protest the Online News Act. The act mandates that online properties pay Canadian media outlets for the use of their content.
“This high-handed decision is an abuse of Meta’s dominant position, particularly in the Canadian online advertising market, and violates the basic tenets of any society that believes in the importance of reliable, trustworthy news coverage for a healthy democracy,” said Quebecor in a statement. “Any move by Meta to circumvent Canadian law, block news for its users or discriminate against Canadian media content on its platforms, through its algorithms or otherwise, cannot be tolerated.”