What Meta's and Google's news blocking means for indie media, and for you
On Tuesday Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, made good on a threat to block all news from Canadians on its platforms. Google is promising to do much the same thing, and has already tested its capacity to do so. Whatever side of the political debate over Bill C-18 you might be on, it's time to look at what the tech companies' retaliations to the bill will do in practice. How do Canadians find specific news without Google, Facebook and Instagram? If they're not encountering reliable news sources on those platforms, what will they find in their place? What does this do to smaller, independent publishers who rely on discoverability to grow their audience and what are some of them trying to do to get around the blocks? GUEST: Sarah Krichel, social media manager, The Tyee (read Sarah's analysis of the Meta/Google blocks here)
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Show Notes
On Tuesday Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, made good on a threat to block all news from Canadians on its platforms. Google is promising to do much the same thing, and has already tested its capacity to do so. Whatever side of the political debate over Bill C-18 you might be on, it's time to look at what the tech companies' retaliations to the bill will do in practice.
How do Canadians find specific news without Google, Facebook and Instagram? If they're not encountering reliable news sources on those platforms, what will they find in their place? What does this do to smaller, independent publishers who rely on discoverability to grow their audience and what are some of them trying to do to get around the blocks?
GUEST: Sarah Krichel, social media manager, The Tyee (read Sarah's analysis of the Meta/Google blocks here)
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