Meta was right?

Independent companies that track the popularity of apps and sites on the Internet shared data Tuesday that Facebook's popularity in Canada has remained flat. That's despite Meta's decision to ban the news publication on its platform in Canada earlier this month, for which the corporation was sharply criticized by the country's government.

The number of daily active Facebook users in Canada and the time spent in the app and on the site has remained virtually unchanged since early August, when Meta began blocking news content in Canada. Similarweb, a company that analyzes traffic on websites and apps, told the Reuters news outlet.

Analytics firm Data.ai also told Reuters that it found no evidence of any meaningful change in Facebook usage by Canadians in August.

Meta declined to comment on Similarweb and Data.ai data.

This data, though rather premature, shows that Meta was right in assuming that Facebook users are not logging onto the platform to track news. However, Meta's relationship with the Canadian government remains strained due to the "Online News Act," which requires corporations such as Meta and Google to pay news outlets for news that is posted on those corporations' platforms.

Both Meta and Google said that this law does not contribute to the development of their business. In particular, Meta said that news publications account for less than 3% of the content in the Facebook feed and do not represent economic value for the corporation. Especially since the world's most popular social network has recently been trying to reduce the amount of news and other civic content as it faces regulatory pressure in key markets around the world.

Instead, Facebook aims to promote lighter topics such as fashion, entertainment, and sports.

This shift in social media priorities, according to the Reuters Institute and Pew Research Center, has caused the popularity of news content on Facebook to drop recently.

Similarweb shared that even before Meta blocked access to news in Canada, the number of links to popular news sites on Facebook was down about 35% year-over-year in July, and about 74% since 2020.

Meta's other social network, Instagram, is less prominent in sharing news, as Instagram posts cannot have active links.

While Meta stopped publishing news in Canada on its platforms in early August, Google says it plans to block news from appearing in search results in Canada once the "Online News Act" comes into effect.

The Canadian government not long ago demanded that Meta lift its news blocking so that people could have easy access on the familiar platform to information about the wildfires currently burning in many parts of the country. Restricting access to news during such a difficult period is considered cruel by officials.

Specific rules governing how the "Online News Act" will be implemented must be published by the end of December, after which platforms will have to strike deals with news outlets in Canada to publish news.

The new Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge has already started talks with representatives of Facebook and Google on the subject of the law. in Meta confirmed the fact of negotiations.

Also, Canada's regulator, which is responsible for enforcing the "Online News Act," said it will begin creating a framework for negotiations between news outlets and Internet giants this fall so that mandatory negotiations can begin by early 2025.