An Australian news website at the centre of a controversy between New Delhi and Ottawa clarified on Monday that it did not receive any notification from social media conglomerate Meta specifically banning its Facebook and Instagram pages in Canada.
On November 7, a spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry had incorrectly claimed that Canada had blocked the social media handles of the website, The Australia Today. The spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, appeared to have been referring to the Facebook account of the website.
The Australia Today also claimed on November 8 that the purported ban on the website’s social media handles had been implemented “under orders from the Canadian government”.
However, in reality, Meta – the parent company of social media websites Facebook and Instagram – blocks all news outlets for users in Canada, not just The Australia Today. This is because the conglomerate objects to Canada’s Online News Act, which requires tech giants to pay news outlets for articles shared on their platforms.
Jitarth Jai Bharadwaj, the managing editor of The Australia Today, claimed on Monday that the news portal was “made aware” of the law only after it published an interview with India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
“Considering that another news outlet, known for its alleged anti-India reporting and Khalistan propaganda, remains accessible on both Facebook and Instagram in Canada, our logical conclusion was that there was selective blocking of our content on the platforms,” Bharadwaj said, without naming the news outlet.
The website’s managing editor further stated: “To date, The Australia Today has not received any official notification or email from Meta regarding specific restrictions applied to our Facebook or Instagram pages.”
During a press briefing on November 7, India’s external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, commenting on claims about The Australia Today’s social media handles being banned in Canada, had said: “These are actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech.”
However, Canada on November 10, denied the allegation and said that The Australia Today had never been banned in the country, The Hindu reported.
“The news site and video of media comments by both India’s Foreign Minister Jaishankar and Australia’s Foreign Minister Wong, can be easily and freely viewed in Canada,” the Canadian foreign ministry said. “In Canada, Meta, which owns and operates Facebook and Instagram, blocked the sharing of news content on their sites, irrespective of the outlet.”
The Australia Today said on Monday that it acknowledged the Canadian government’s statement.
Canada’s Online News Act seeks to ensure that social media giants share a part of the advertising revenue they generate with media outlets whose links are posted on their platforms.
In November last year, Google signed an agreement with the Canadian government, under which it would distribute 100 million Canadian dollars, or over Rs 606 crore, to news outlets every year.
Meta, however, has objected to the law and has claimed that it does not “benefit unfairly” from users sharing links to news content on our platform. Since it has not signed an agreement with the Canadian government on paying money annually to media organisations, it blocks all news outlets on its platforms in the country.
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