Federal Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez accused Meta on Thursday of trying to intimidate Canadians with threats of pulling news content from its Facebook platform, following the adoption of Bill C-18 in the House of Commons.
“Canadians don’t like being intimidated,” Rodriguez told reporters in Ottawa. “Me, if I were Facebook, I would change my strategy. It won’t pass with Canadians.”
The minister was reacting to a statement on Wednesday from Facebook’s parent company, Meta, saying the bill “forces us to consider removing news from Facebook in Canada rather than being compelled to submit to government-mandated negotiations that do not properly account for the value we provide publishers.”…