On Tuesday, Meta announced that it would be "permanently" ending Canadians' ability to view news on Instagram and Facebook in response to the Trudeau Liberals' Online News Act, which requires platforms to pay publishers each time someone clicks on a link to a news story.
The tech giant began blocking certain publishers on its platforms in July, but it appears as though it is now prepared to go all the way.
"In order to provide clarity to the millions of Canadians and businesses who use our platforms, we are announcing today that we have begun the process of ending news availability permanently in Canada," Meta said in a statement.
Meta accused the Online News Act of being "based on the incorrect premise" that tech companies "benefit unfairly from news content shared on [their] platform," noting that, "the reverse is actually true."
"In the future," Meta concluded, "we hope the Canadian government will recognize the value we already provide the news industry and consider a policy response that upholds the principles of a free and open internet, champions diversity and innovation, and reflects the interests of the entire Canadian media landscape.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre lamented Meta's decision, but placed the blame solely at the feet of the Trudeau Liberals.
"It's like 1984," he said. "You have a prime minister passing a law to make news articles disappear from the internet. Who would've ever imagined that in Canada, the federal government would pass laws banning people from effectively seeing the news? Who would've thought that we'd have a government that would pass a law to manipulate the algorithms of the internet?"
He went on to suggest that Trudeau doesn't want Canadians to see the "facts of life" after eight years of Liberal leadership.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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