Meta has said that it will block access to news content on Facebook and Instagram if Bill C-18, also known as the Online News Act, were to pass in its current form.

“A legislative framework that compels us to pay for links or content that we do not post, and which are not the reason the vast majority of people use our platforms, is neither sustainable nor workable,” a Meta spokesperson said in an email.

Prior to making its decision definitive, Meta had said that pulling news content was a possibility, a move it briefly followed through on in Australia after similar legislation passed there.

The Online News Act is an effort by legislators to force large tech companies – namely, Google and Meta – to negotiate with news outlets to share revenues generated by online advertising. News outlets have long said that such regulation is needed, as the companies’ control over the ad market has allowed them to command an unfair portion of revenues.

The language of the bill is primarily concerned with platforms that share news with users (such as through Google’s search or Facebook’s news feed) and ads appearing adjacent to this content, as opposed to the companies’ larger ad and audience networks that also command a high share of revenue from ads on an outlet’s own digital properties.

Policy experts told MiC that this is likely for enforceability reasons – attempts to regulate the larger ad networks of Google and Meta would likely involve anti-trust measures and the co-operation of multiple jurisdictions. However, this does also present an opportunity for large tech companies to escape obligations under the Act: when the Bill was first introduced, a spokesperson for the Minister of Canadian Heritage told MiC that, should a platform no longer share news content or links to news on their properties, the bill would no longer apply to them, leaving their broader ad networks un-touched.

Last month, Google began a five-week test blocking news content on its platforms for a small number of users. The company said it was exploring potential responses to the Online News Act and considering how it might adjust its business.

On Sunday, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez responded to Meta in a way that was similar to his response to Google.

“Once again, it’s disappointing to see that Facebook has resorted to threats instead of working with the Canadian government in good faith,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “This tactic didn’t work in Australia, and it won’t work here.”

Bill C-18 was passed by the House of Commons in December, and is currently going through its second reading in the Senate.