The move comes as the Canadian parliament passed the Online News Act, which mandates platforms like Meta Platforms and Google to negotiate commercial deals with Canadian news publishers for their content.

Rachel Curran, Meta's head of public policy in Canada, stated that news outlets voluntarily share content on Facebook and Instagram to expand their audiences and improve their revenue. However, she also noted that users of these platforms do not primarily visit them for news.

The Canadian legislation is similar to Australia's ground-breaking law passed in 2021, which faced resistance from Google and Facebook. Eventually, both companies reached agreements with Australian media organizations after amendments were made to the legislation.

While Google argued that the Canadian law is broader and places a price on news story links displayed in search results, Meta Platforms announced its decision to end access to news content on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada. This move aligns with a broader global trend of imposing stricter regulations on tech firms to ensure they compensate news publishers for their content.

The Canadian Heritage Minister's office has not yet responded to Meta's decision. However, the Online News Act is set to take effect soon, and once it does, Facebook and Instagram users in Canada will no longer have access to news on these platforms.

This development marks a significant step in the ongoing battle between tech giants and governments worldwide over the role and compensation of news publishers on social media platforms.