EDITORIAL – The big online bullies are taking away our news — let them

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

MY NEWS FEEDS disappeared off Facebook yesterday.

Facebook and Instagram have begun the process of ditching Canadian news content in earnest as the battle with the Canadian government over the Online News Act comes to a head. Now, when I try to check on the CFJC Facebook page, all I get is a message saying “No posts available.” Same thing on my ArmchairMayor.ca page.

Fine. It will be somewhat of an inconvenience but you and I will survive it. We just have to go direct to our favourite news websites.

Personally, the thought of giant American corporations trying to hold Canada hostage in order to avoid paying their fair share for using our news content bugs me.

Meta — which owns Facebook and Instagram — along with Google are supposed to share revenues from news stories appearing on their platforms.

Instead, they’d rather take that news away before the regulations surrounding the Act are even finalized. They make the argument that major Canadian news content providers actually benefit from the way things have been. It’s free marketing, they say.

The Competition Bureau is looking into it but we shouldn’t hold our breaths.

Some people side with the online giants because they simply don’t like the mainstream media. They cheer for anything the media don’t like.

One consequence of the social-media platforms’ refusal to carry Canadian news sources may be that more people will put more stock in so-called alternative media because they’ll be too lazy to seek out news created by actual journalists instead of by rumour mongers and manipulators.

And that will make them susceptible to misinformation and conspiracy theories. But that’s all the more reason to insist on fairness in the distribution of news online.

The Online News Act is an attempt to make sure legitimate news providers remain viable. So, no, I won’t spend too much time fretting over the bullying tactics of the online mega corporations.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.