Twitter has laid off its Director of Public Policy for the U.S. & Canada, among other Canadian staff, as the platform undertakes mass layoffs under new owner Elon Musk. Ottawa-based Michele Austin had held the role for the last five years. Paul Burns, Managing Director of Twitter Canada, has also confirmed his exit on social media, as has Cam Gordon, Head of Communications for Canada. Read more here. Meanwhile, worldwide layoffs at Meta on Wednesday also impacted an unknown number of Canadian staff.
MuchMusic has officially surpassed more than two million followers on TikTok. Since teaming up with TikTok in July 2021, Bell Media says @much has received more than 95 million likes and more than one billion views of the #MuchLove hashtag on the platform. Among the highlights of the brand’s digital re-envisioning are a reboot of seminal concert series Intimate & Interactive, which has featured Coi Leray, GAYLE, Johnny Orlando, and Tate McRae, in addition to feature interviews with Canadian artists like Tegan and Sara, Nickelback, Brett Kissel, Jesse Reyes, Arkells, AR Paisley, JP Saxe, and Loud Luxury.
A Nanos Research Poll commissioned by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), suggests the majority of Canadians support encouraging Google and Facebook to negotiate with Canadian news organizations for fair payment. According to the survey, about four in five Canadians support (52%) or somewhat support (25%) the measure, while four in five oppose (60%) or somewhat oppose (20%) Google and Facebook paying nothing to Canadian news organizations for the value of their news content. Close to two in three Canadians are confident (17%) or somewhat (46%) confident that Canadian news organizations, including broadcasters and newspapers, work in the best interests of Canadians, while over four in five each say they are not confident or somewhat confident in Google (57% not confident, 25% somewhat not confident) as well as Facebook (71% not confident, 20%somewhat not confident).
