Tech giant Meta recently announced that it will no longer provide news content to Canadian users on its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. The decision comes in response to the Canadian parliament’s recently passed Online News Act, which requires online platforms to negotiate commercial deals with Canadian news publishers in order to display their content. Meta’s head of public policy in Canada, Rachel Curran, explained that news articles account for less than 3% of the content on its users’ feeds and have no monetary value for the company.
The move has been met with criticism from the Canadian government. Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge called Meta’s decision “irresponsible” and accused the company of prioritizing its own financial interests over providing access to high-quality and local news for its users. St-Onge emphasized the importance of the government standing up to tech giants on behalf of Canadians. It is worth noting that a similar law was passed in Australia in 2021, which initially led to threats of service removal from Google and Facebook. However, both companies eventually found a way to work with the Australian government.
Meanwhile, an Australian Senate committee has recommended extending the ban on TikTok from federal devices to the Chinese-owned social media platform WeChat. The Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media also proposed that social media platforms be required to be more transparent about their operations, with violators facing fines. Committee chair James Paterson highlighted the importance of addressing the threats posed by authoritarian governments using social media platforms for disinformation campaigns, both from platforms headquartered in authoritarian countries like TikTok and WeChat, as well as those headquartered in Western countries.
The committee’s focus on combating Chinese interference through online misinformation and disinformation campaigns is particularly timely, given the recent concerns surrounding Chinese-owned platforms. TikTok has already been banned by several Western governments, and WeChat is now under similar scrutiny. WeChat, popular among Chinese immigrants in Australia, has drawn attention due to its potential to be used as a tool for disinformation and influence by the Chinese government. Tencent, the owner of WeChat, expressed disagreement with the committee’s depiction of the platform but stated their willingness to address concerns and work with stakeholders in Australia.
In the United States, the state of California is considering the California Delete Act, a privacy bill aimed at empowering residents to protect their personally identifiable information (PII) from data brokers. The legislation, as described by Dark Reading, seeks to create a framework for residents to prevent their data from being bought and sold for profit. Currently, California residents can request data brokers to delete their collected information, but this only applies to data collected directly and does not encompass data obtained from third-party sources.
The California Delete Act would close this gap by mandating that all data brokers register with the California Privacy Protection Agency. Through this registration process, brokers would disclose the user information they collect and provide a one-time universal opt-out option for users. By creating a “do not track” list, similar to the federal “do not call” list, users would have more control over their data and be able to protect their privacy more effectively. The proposed legislation has already been overwhelmingly approved by the California Senate and has received support from organizations such as Planned Parenthood.
If the California Delete Act becomes law, it could serve as a precedent for other states looking to enhance privacy protections for their residents. The bill’s streamlined approach to giving users greater control over their data could be favored by data brokers, as it would simplify their compliance efforts compared to navigating a complex web of varying rules across different jurisdictions. With the bill’s strong backing and support from influential organizations, it has a high likelihood of being enacted into law, potentially leading to similar privacy measures being adopted in other states.
Overall, these recent developments highlight the ongoing debates and actions taking place in the tech and social media landscape. From Meta’s decision to pull news for Canadian users in response to regulatory requirements to proposals for banning WeChat in Australia and the potential passage of the California Delete Act, these events reflect the growing concerns and efforts to address issues related to news dissemination, foreign interference, and user privacy in the digital age.