Inside Canada's fight with Facebook: Trudeau says, “Canadians will not be bullied by … – Politico

The Canadian government painted a contrast between the two companies, suggesting Meta is stubborn and not negotiating, while Google remains at the table. | Thibault Camus/AP Photo OTTAWA, Ont. — Canada’s Liberal government picked a fight with two U.S. tech giants by passing legislation forcing Meta and Google to pay news publishers for content. But the battle hasn’t gone quite as expected. Now, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says big Silicon Valley firms want to make an example out of his country as Meta, fronted by two of Ottawa’s brightest political minds hailing from opposing parties, blocks Canadian news from its platforms. The company started permanently removing Canadian news from Facebook and Instagram this month, and Canadian media publishers fear the move could deal a massive blow to an industry already gutted by layoffs and closures, teetering on the edge with 60 outlets closing in the past two years alone and CTV, a major television news network, closing its foreign bureaus. The standoff, closely watched by some congressional representatives and California legislators with similar laws in the works, isn’t just government versus industry. It has plunged Trudeau into a high-stakes public brawl with two veteran political operatives now leading the charge
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