Canada forces social media companies to pay for Canadian content; Fakebook declines, hilarity ensues

Democrats refuse to criticize the biden regime for...well, anything.  So it's often easier for Democrats to understand how evil totalitarian governments are by looking at a different country, so they're not spring-loaded to deny the obvious.

So...The Canadian government is always trying to find new ways to squeeze cash from businesses.  And squeezing non-Canadian businesses is the best.  

In a free society people are allowed to quote things other entities have published.  So for example, websites routinely post articles or excerpts from other sources, with links to the original.  So the original source gets viewers from the re-posting.

So some months ago the Canadian government passed a law called the "Online News Act," demanding that if the big social media platforms wanted to re-post stories from Canadian broadcasters, they'd have to pay the originator.

Okay, it's a tax on U.S. social media to benefit Canadian broadcasters.  Got it.  But what the Canadian government didn't foresee was the possibility that social media would just stop posting Canadian news.

After Meta (formerly Fakebook) began the process of dropping Canadian news from Facebook and Instagram--news one would think would be of interest to Canadians-- Canada's "Heritage Minister," Pascale St-Onge,  denounced that move as “irresponsible.”

Let's review:  Canadian morons (government) DECREE that social media must negotiate to pay fees to Canadian broadcasters to carry news of interest to Canadians.  At least one social media site declines, and stops posting such news--and is denounced as "irresponsible" by the government.

Hmmm....Sounds a lot like the biden regime, or the totalitarian Democrats who control the California legislature, outlawing the sale of gasoline-powered cars a few years from now, forcing Americans into far more costly electric vehicles--and then calling people who decide to keep their old cars for 15 more years "domestic violent extremists" or something.

Democrats and Justine Trudeau have a lot in common. 

Source.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-starts-process-end-news-availability-canada-2023-08-01/