META Under Heat Over Blocking Canada Wildfire Updates ‘Endangering Lives’

New Delhi: META has been severely criticised for its move to block news links to Canada at a time when the country is reeling under a major wildfire. 

Owing to the dire situation, many people had to flock out of their homes to a safer place, ensuring safety of their lives. However, Meta has stopped outsouricng news links due to a conflict with a policy implied there. 

As raised by the locals, the updates on the widlfire through Meta platforms could have helped misplaced ones to stay posted about the situation, reported AFP.

Kelsey Worth, 35, one of nearly 20,000 Yellowknife residents and thousands of others living in small towns, said the situation was “very dangerous”, who had been ordered to evacuate the Northwest Territories as crowds Wildfires continue to spread.

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She described to AFP how difficult it was for herself and other evacuees to find verifiable information about the fires ravaging territory near the Arctic and other areas of Canada.

Meta Stopped Publishing Content 

Meta began blocking the distribution of links and articles on August 1, in response to a recent law requiring digital giants to pay news publishers for news content.

The company is in a virtual dispute with Ottawa over a bill passed in June but will not take effect until next year. Building on similar legislation introduced in Australia, the bill is aimed at supporting the struggling Canadian news industry, which has seen advertising dollars leak and hundreds of publications shuttered over the past decade.

It requires companies like Meta and Google to enter into fair-trade agreements with Canadian media for news and information.

But Meta said the bill was flawed and stressed that media must share content on their Facebook and Instagram platforms to engage readers, which would benefit them, not the public.

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