Meta has decided to remove all news from Facebook and Instagram in response to Bill C-18. The bill doesn’t go into effect until the end of 2023, but Meta has blocked all news effective this week. It will happen in the next few days if you haven’t been affected yet. 

This means you will no longer be able to share a story with friends or access the Facebook page of a Canadian news organization. This week, we learned that this block includes news sites from outside Canada.

Since no one can see our posts on Facebook and Instagram, there isn’t much point in us updating our Facebook and Instagram pages anymore.

To know what’s happening in your community, you must visit our websites, download mobile apps, or subscribe to the newsletter of your local news outlet. 

Why is this happening? 

It all has to do with the Federal Governments Bill C-18. This bill was passed in June and will become law at the end of 2023.

Under the new law, Meta and Google would pay news organizations in Canada if their articles are shared on their platforms. While I don’t understand why Google, Instagram and Facebook need to pay us when we use their platforms to share our articles, we are past the point of debating the merits of this bill. Google has also threatened to remove news articles from their search engine but has yet to provide as detailed a plan as Meta.

The bill was designed to help fund local journalism. I’m just not sure relying on Facebook, and Google is the best way to improve the current financial situation of journalism in Canada. News organizations all over Canada have been cutting staff because advertising revenue has dropped. Much of that revenue has gone to Meta and Google. Here in Fort St. John, we used to have three weekly newspapers, a daily newspaper, a TV station, three radio stations and two local news websites. The newspapers have disappeared along with their reporters, and now we only have one weekly newspaper.

So how should you support local journalism in Fort St. John in the future? 

It is a simple change, but a change. Start by visiting your favourite local news websites every day.

Here at Energeticcity, we publish almost ten stories a day, and even if you follow our Facebook, Facebook only shows you some of the articles.

You can join our daily newsletter. Every day we send an email highlighting the news from the previous day. You can join the newsletter by visiting moosefm.ca/newsletter. Over 5,000 people receive our daily email newsletter. Make sure you join them and get updates every day on local news.

We have also launched a new mobile app that works on Android and Apple devices. Plus, you can access our articles without advertising if you become a paying supporter. You can download the app here, https://energeticcity.app.link/G3gWC50qSzb.

On top of this, we will continue to post links to our stories on Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok.

This change will significantly affect local media in Fort St. John and Canada. Despite this change, with your help, we can continue to cover local news in Fort St. John and Northeast B.C.  We have faced challenges in the past, and we know that with your support, we can overcome this.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  I can be reached at adam@moosefm.ca or by phone at 250-787-7100.