Meta doesn’t block Canadian news outlets on Threads in hopes of jump-starting it

By Ramiro Bustamante Torres, October 26 2023—

Meta announced on June 1, 2023 that they will be blocking news for all Canadians on Facebook and Instagram. This was in response to Bill C-18 passed by the Canadian government earlier which Meta had opposed. For Canadians, this poses the problem of sharing news on two major social media platforms but for Meta, this was an opportunity to expand on their new platform Threads — it’s like Twitter/X but it is run by another billionaire. 

“Yes, it’s unfortunate that Canadians can’t access news like they used to before but I’m sure they’ll love Threads,” said Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram and Threads. “Canadians will be able to find all their favourite news sites we blocked on Instagram by making a Threads account that can’t be deleted without deleting your Instagram account too.”

As a new app connected to Instagram, Threads is the bastard version of Twitter but without all the bots since it’s so new and not many people have signed up for it yet it’s not worth having bots stealing content yet. Meta’s goal to grow their new app in Canada is a strategic move that will have many Canadian news outlets migrate towards it unless they realize that Twitter still exists and they don’t need to create a new account. 

“Give People a Voice,” reads a statement on Meta’s principles. “People deserve to be heard and to have a voice — even when that means defending the rights of people we disagree with.”

Another major company, Google, had announced their plan of removing Canadian news outlets from searches. This comes as no surprise that Google, along with Meta, would spend more money blocking Canadian news than paying a fair revenue for the money they receive with ADs.

If you have found the Gauntlet by chance, don’t forget to follow us on Threads, Twitter/X and TikTok.

This article is part of our humour section in the fake news column.