Late last June, after news broke of a stabbing at the University of Waterloo, the student paper Imprint immediately turned to Instagram - its most popular social media platform - and X (formerly Twitter) to share all the latest developments. Posts included updates, bumps of university feeds as well as links to stories on the police investigation and student demands for accountability.
However, such posts are no longer an option. As of Aug. 1, Meta (the company behind Facebook and Instagram) started blocking access to news on its two main social media channels for all Canadian users. The ban impacts all news outlets including student newspapers and local radio stations. Meta stated that move is a response to the federal government's Online News Act, Bill C-18, which is set to come into force in late 2024.
Bill C-18 intends to force Meta and Google's parent company Alphabet to pay Canadian news publishers for their content. However, the bill omits student outlets that employ two or fewer journalists. "We don't meet the definition that has been set out in the bill. If Meta agreed to pay, we would not have seen any money anyway," said Andrew Mrozowski, president of Canadian University Press (CUP), which operates a newswire service for campus publications and advocates for student papers.
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