CRTC denies Meta’s request to keep Online News Act response confidential

The CRTC has rejected Meta Platforms Inc.’s request that the explanation for how it is complying with the Online News Act be kept confidential, amid reports of news content still being made available on its platforms. Last month, the regulator called on the social media company to provide comments on the measures it is taking to comply and whether news is still available on its platforms. Meta filed its response in confidence with the CRTC and – when asked to file an abridged version for the public – explained that it “cannot” because all of the information is confidential. “In the letter, Meta explains the specific measures it has taken to remove access to news, which has not been previously disclosed,” the company’s public policy director Dan Ball told the CRTC. “It is in the public interest to maintain this information as confidential so users cannot use it to avoid detection of news that Meta would otherwise remove, thereby undermining the act rather than ensuring compliance with it. Since the entirety of the letter contains confidential information relating to the sensitive commercial process that Meta undertakes to ensure compliance, an abridged version cannot be filed.” On Nov. 26, the CRTC denied the company’s confidentiality request, explaining that the information provided “is not detailed enough to allow users to circumvent any measures that Meta has taken to comply with the act, and that the release of the information would not result in harm to Meta sufficient to justify a designation of confidentiality.” “Furthermore, the commission considers that the information provided is relevant to the administration of the act and its regulations, and releasing the information would serve the public interest.” The regulator told Meta to file a new copy of its initial letter “without a confidentiality designation” by Dec. 11. "Should Meta fail to do so, the CRTC will consider appropriate next steps," the commission told The Wire Report. READ MORE: – Google granted exemption from requirements of Online News Act The rejection came a day after the CRTC sent Meta an additional request for information, asking it to “elaborate” on the measures it is taking to remove access to news on its platforms. “Are any of these measures reflected in Meta’s Terms of Service or other publicly available policies to which its users are subject?,” the regulator asks. “Does Meta have a review process that allows entities to challenge those measures?” Among its questions, the regulator also asks the company to “describe in detail how Meta monitors whether or not news content appears to Canadian users on its platform, notwithstanding the measures it has taken to remove news content.” Including whether the company has human or AI monitors, what timelines there are for removal, and how it is measuring the effectiveness of these measures. Meta has until Dec. 6 to respond to those more detailed questions. News content still available on Facebook, Instagram: report says Despite Meta banning news links on its platforms in Canada after the passage of the Online News Act, the CRTC said it has received reports that news content was still being made available. In an email to The Wire Report, the CRTC explained that it had sent its requests to Meta after seeing news reports, “informal submissions to CRTC staff,” and a study by the Media Ecosystem Observatory (MEO) about news content still available on Meta’s platforms. According to the Aug. 1 MEO report, titled Old News, New Reality: A Year of Meta's News Ban in Canada, news content is still available on Meta platforms. It found that 36 per cent of 1,463 Canadian adults surveyed between July 24 and July 30, 2024 had encountered news content on Facebook or Instagram. "This arguably should make Meta subject to the requirements of the Online News Act," the report states. READ MORE: – Facebook use remains constant despite news ban “In our investigation, we identified a significant number of workarounds to the blocking of news content and links to news websites, meaning that Canadian news organization content continues to be shared on Meta platforms. Some highly motivated news-sharers in Canada continue to share links to news websites on Facebook, by, for example, altering the URLs slightly (e.g., by adding a slash or hyphen) and telling other users how to fix it in their browser’s search bar,” the report states. “Others share links to posts by news outlets on other platforms: for example, a news outlet may still be posting articles on X (formerly Twitter), so a Facebook user will share the link to the post on X, allowing other users to follow the trail of URLs to the news article itself.” “Although impossible to know for certain, the most common strategy may be the sharing of screen-grabs of news organization content,” the report continues, later adding that “the sharing of screenshots of news articles has exploded” since the news ban. “The volume of screenshots of Canadian news articles tripled in the four months immediately following the ban, generating such a large amount of engagement that, although there are fewer posts containing screenshots than there were posts with news links prior to the ban, engagement with news screenshots matched the previous engagement generated by news links.” When asked by The Wire Report to confirm if screenshots of news content shared to online platforms or news content shared by platforms’ AI chatbots are considered a violation of the Online News Act, the CRTC did not clarify -- but noted that "platforms have a duty to notify the CRTC if the act applies to them, and only Google has done so." phalentm@thewirereport.ca

CRTC denies Meta’s request to keep Online News Act response confidential

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By Phalen Tynes-MacDonald
| November 29, 2024

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CRTC denies Meta’s request to keep Online News Act response confidential

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