BC NDP premier David Eby is following in the footsteps of the federal Liberal government by pulling advertisements from Facebook and Instagram, however, his party is continuing to run ad campaigns on Meta’s platforms.
The same day that Bill C-18 (the Online News Act) received Royal Assent, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta announced that they would be removing Canadians’ access to news on their platforms. Meta had been warning for months that they would do as much should C-18 pass.
Bill C-18 will require Google and Meta to pay news outlets for linking news on their platforms.
In a tit-for-tat, Liberal heritage minister Pablo Rodriguez said the government would cease running ads on Facebook and Instagram, taking away approximately $11 million of Meta’s revenue.
However, this represents less than 1% of Meta’s advertising revenues, as last year they earned approximately $116 billion USD.
Despite Justin Trudeau accusing Meta of “bullying” and comparing the C-18 power struggle to World War II, his federal Liberal Party will continue to advertise with Meta.
“The government is one thing and the party is another,” said Rodriguez.
BC premier Eby called Meta’s decision to cut off Canadian news “totally unacceptable” and said Google and Meta’s conduct was “absolutely disgraceful.”
Ebay stated that the BC government will no longer advertise on Facebook or Instagram except in the case of emergencies. In 2022, the BC government spent about $1.4 million advertising on Meta platforms.
“To send a strong message to Meta that journalism is a vital public service and access to news should never be blocked, our government has decided to stop all advertising on Facebook and Instagram,” said Eby.
Meanwhile, his party, the BC NDP, launched two Meta ad campaigns: one featuring a petition in support of free birth control, and another petition advocating for gender dysphoric people to have increased access to cut off their body parts, among other transgender-related items.
True North asked the BC NDP if they plan to stop advertising on Meta platforms to practice what they preach, but the party did not respond.
Quebec premier François Legault announced his government would also stop running Facebook and Instagram ads. His party, Coalition Avenir Québec, has not run any ad campaigns with Meta since June.
