FRIENDS is leading a 48-hour boycott of Facebook and Instagram this week, in response to Meta’s move to block news on its platforms in Canada. The public broadcasting watchdog and Canadian culture advocate is urging users to “Go Dark” on Meta’s platforms as the digital giant’s news blocking exercise in response to passage of the Online News Act, closes in on the one-month mark. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among those denouncing Meta’s news block earlier this week as thousands of residents of B.C. and the Northwest Territories are evacuated due to wildfires. Trudeau told a news conference Monday that Facebook had chosen “to put corporate profits ahead of ensuring that local news organizations can get up to date information to Canadians…” Read more here. CBC President Catherine Tait, meanwhile, has written a letter appealing to Meta’s President of Global Affairs to end news blocking in Canadian communities affected by wildfires, which made headlines on CNN.
X ( the platform formerly known as Twitter) is changing how news links show up in users’ timelines. Headlines and text will be stripped out of links to display an article’s feature image only. The change, being directly led by X owner Elon Musk, is reportedly being driven by a desire for both better esthetics and a reduction in clickbait articles.
