Is Canada’s government about to go to war with Facebook?
The social media giant is currently negotiating with the Australian government—which is a big improvement from last week, when Facebook was blocking all links from Australian news media. In Canada, the federal government has indicated it will follow Australia's lead in taxing Facebook and distributing the revenue to struggling news media. Facebook has no plans to let that happen and has shown it will do whatever it takes to keep its ad money for itself. Why does this fight matter? How nasty could it get? And who would even decide what qualifies as "news" on the platform anyway? Welcome to the first volley in what could be a long war.
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Show Notes
The social media giant is currently negotiating with the Australian government—which is a big improvement from last week, when Facebook was blocking all links from Australian news media. In Canada, the federal government has indicated it will follow Australia's lead in taxing Facebook and distributing the revenue to struggling news media. Facebook has no plans to let that happen and has shown it will do whatever it takes to keep its ad money for itself.
Why does this fight matter? How nasty could it get? And who would even decide what qualifies as "news" on the platform anyway? Welcome to the first volley in what could be a long war.
GUEST: Jesse Hirsh, metaviews.ca
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