Meta Platforms Begins Blocking News for Canadian Users

OTTAWA—After months of warnings, Meta Platforms said Tuesday that it has started to block access to news links for Facebook and Instagram users in Canada, raising the stakes in a showdown over whether digital companies should finance news outlets.

“Changes will roll out over a few weeks,” Meta spokesman Andy Stone said on his official account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “As we’ve always said, the law is based on a fundamentally flawed premise. And, regrettably, the only way we can reasonably comply is to end news availability in Canada.”

Meta, and Alphabet’s Google, have taken a hard line against Canadian legislation passed by Parliament in June that compels digital platforms to compensate media outlets for links. Internet law experts and former technology-sector executives say this stance reflects the companies’ concern about a contagion effect—that every jurisdiction will try to mimic Canada’s approach and get the Silicon Valley companies to help finance newsgathering.