Sign up for our daily e-newsletter to get the local news that matters.
If you visited the Kingsville Times on Facebook today, you may have been met with this message: “People in Canada can’t see this content.”
If you haven’t yet heard, Meta (formerly known as Facebook) has moved to block access to Canadian news on Facebook and Instagram, following the passage of the Online News Act (Bill C-18). The Government of Canada now requires internet giants to compensate Canadian media companies for making news content available on their platforms.
How does this affect the Kingsville Times?
You may have received messages like the image above telling you that our content is unavailable, both on Facebook and Instagram. Others may still be able to see our posts, for now.
Bill C-18 was passed into law in June. The Act now requires tech giants like Meta and Google to negotiate with Canadian news organizations to compensate them for reposting their content. Canadians will no longer be able to view or share news links on Facebook or Instagram.
The effects of Bill C-18 on the Kingsville Times are terrible. As a small, independent, digital news outlet, we rely on the use of Facebook to help our stories reach a broader audience across our community.
Where can readers find our news?
You can still read our news in the Kingsville Times in other ways:
- Bookmark our homepage on your web browser – www.kingsvilletimes.ca
- Follow us on Twitter @KingsvilleTimes
- Sign up for our free daily e-newsletter by going to our website and filling in the box at the top of the page
We are committed to looking for new ways to share full articles with our readers (and no links back to our website). We hope you will continue to support us by reading the Kingsville Times online.
Thank you for your continued support.
Jody Smith
Editor
Is this leading to Censorship? Isn’t Censorship followed by Communism? Is this what Canadians want? If not, then take action with your vote and your voice.
We agree with Will Cowell’s comment. This Bill is terrible as well as Bill C 11 . It’s all about censorship.
You’re correct this bill is terrible. We need a change in leadership in canada. This is a lot more than big tech and Canadians news it is attempting control the narrative with bias .
Absolutely agree, 100%
Interesting situation (for me as reader from Europe).
What do you say to this situation as Editor?
Do you support this new Bill C-18?
If yes, how much do you think should Facebook pay to you for the fact that you use their platform?
Bill C-18 is challenging for local news outlets such as the Kingsville Times. Since we currently do not charge for subscriptions, we were surprised that we were affected by Meta’s decision to block our articles from our readers.