Danielle Smith receives temporary censor on Facebook by Meta

Meta's campaign to censor Canadian users has reached the top brass of Alberta's Conservative resistance, indicating that no one is impervious to online censorship.

Premier Danielle Smith informed Albertans on Twitter that she received a temporary content ban on Facebook.

"Big tech and government censorship is becoming a danger to free speech around the world," she tweeted Wednesday afternoon, confirming her Facebook account has been banned from posting content for a "few days."

The premier's office told Rebel News they are waiting for further information and clarification from Facebook as to why the Premier’s account is being censored. 

“The explanation received from Facebook thus far notes the ban will last for ‘a few days,’” said Sam Blackett, press secretary to the premier.

Ottawa recently made it clear to Big Tech — fall in line with Bill C-18, the Online News Act, or get lost.

If the controversial legislation passes the Senate, Parliament will compel Google and Meta to pay for Canadian journalism that helps the companies generate revenue.

As an apparent protest move, Meta announced it would block up to 5% of Canadian users from temporarily accessing and sharing select news content for June.

In February, Google blocked 3.3% of Canadian users from viewing news links for five weeks. It impacted more than 1.1 million IP addresses.

Meta said it is prepared to permanently end access to news content in Canada if Parliament passes Bill C-18, which would require tech giants to pay media a portion of their ad revenues from linked stories. Google otherwise seeks a compromise with Ottawa.

"As the Premier of a province of 4.6 million Albertans — if they can prevent me from communicating with you, imagine what they can do to any of us," she said.

"Regardless of our political leanings, we must all stand against censorship."

Update: Meta says that Danielle Smith was not censored.

Read the latest updates on the story here.

Featured Stories

COMMENTS

Be the first to comment

Please check your e-mail for a link to activate your account.