New Delhi: In claiming that the social media handles of a website based in Australia had been “blocked by Canada” for reporting external affairs minister S. Jaishankar’s remarks in Canberra, the Ministry of External Affairs appears to have overlooked the fact that Meta blocks all news outlets for users in Canada – including mainstream North American ones – due to a dispute with the Canadian government over the sharing of advertising revenue.
At his weekly briefing on Thursday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was asked if it was “true that the social media pages of The Australia Today , a prominent media outlet in Australia, have been banned in Canada.”
Jaiswal replied that the journalist asking the question “had heard correctly” and asserted that this blocking was a consequence of this platform publishing an interview with Jaishankar. He said that this had “yet again highlight[ed] the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech.”
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Okay. So first, Siddhant, regarding your question about Canada blocking or banning Australia, the prominent outlet there, Australia Today… yes, you have heard it correctly. We have also seen that the… or we understand that the social media handles and pages of this particular outlet, which is an important diaspora outlet, has been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada. This happened just an hour or so, a few hours after this particular handle carried the press conference of External Affairs Minister along with Penny Wong. And the particular media outlet also had several articles on the visit of the External Affairs Minister as also an interview of External Affairs Minister, so we were surprised. It looks strange to us.
But nevertheless, what I will say that these are actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech. You would have said… you would have seen that EAM and his media engagement, interaction, he spoke about three things. One was Canada making allegations and a pattern has developed without any specific evidence. Second thing highlighted was that surveillance of Indian diplomats have been happening in Canada, which I ended up as unacceptable. And then third thing which he highlighted was the political space which is being given in Canada to anti-India elements. So you can draw your conclusions from that why Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada.
Incidentally, the three points on Canada that the MEA spokesperson noted Jaishankar had spoken about in his interview to Australia Today were also mentioned specifically by the Indian minister in his press conference with Australian foreign minister Penny Wong. These three-point concerns were widely reported by Indian outlets, including by The Wire.
While the MEA spokesperson did not identify which social media handles of Australia Today were “blocked” by Canada, it is understood that they are the Instagram and Facebook pages of the website.
Australia Today, on its X account, posted a partial screenshot of its blocked Facebook page. A statement from its managing editor Jitarth Jai Bharadwaj expressed his “heartfelt gratitude to every #news outlet, #journalist, and #supporter who stood by us during a challenging time.”
He also directly accused the Canadian government of being behind the “recent restriction and ban.”
“The recent restriction and ban on our interview with Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar and the press conference with Australian Foreign Minister @SenatorWong on #socialmedia, under orders from the Canadian government, have been difficult for our team and those who value free and open #journalism.”
Statement from The Australia Today:
We at @TheAusToday would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to every #news outlet, #journalist , and #supporter who stood by us during a challenging time. The recent restriction and ban on our interview with Indian External Affairs Minister… pic.twitter.com/53UTd5Le19Advertisement— The Australia Today (@TheAusToday) November 7, 2024
While The Australia Today and the MEA claim that Canada has blocked the outlet, Meta’s own link on the block page indicates that Meta itself – not Canada – has restricted access to the outlet, along with all other worldwide news sites, for users in Canada since August 1, 2023.
A full screenshot of the blocked Facebook page would clarify the issue. When a user in Canada tries to open The Australia Today ‘s Facebook page, they would likely see not the account’s post but a message starting with: “People in Canada can’t see this content.”
Just below this, although cropped out in the previous screenshot, the message continues: “In response to Canadian government legislation, news content can’t be viewed in Canada,” followed by “Learn more”, which links to another Facebook page .
The linked page – which is from Facebook’s newsroom page – is titled, “Changes to News Availability on Our Platforms in Canada”, which was last updated on August 1, 2023.
The first paragraph says:
“In order to comply with the Online News Act, we have begun the process of ending news availability in Canada. These changes start today, and will be implemented for all people accessing Facebook and Instagram in Canada over the course of the next few weeks.”
Thereafter, it notes both for Canadian and international news outlets that news links and content will “no longer be viewable by people in Canada.”
Users in Canada who try to access The Australia Today’s Facebook (left) and Instagram (right) pages see these messages.
The Online News Act , also known as C-18 in Canada, was approved in June 2023 and sought to force IT giants like Meta and Google to pay news publishers and media outlets for the articles that were shared on their platforms.
The logic of the act was that the digital giants should share some of the ad revenue that had moved online with media outlets losing out from advertisers. The IT majors, however, pushed back and said that publishers voluntarily share their content on the platform to their benefit.
In November 2023, Google signed a deal with the Canadian government to distribute CA$100 million annually to news outlets, just three weeks before the Online News Act was going into force.
But Meta continues to resist and no news content is shared on its platforms for any user in Canada since August 1, 2023 .
Using a virtual private network geo-located to Canada to view pages of news outlets, including The Australia Today , on Instagram and Facebook reveals that the tech giant has blocked them for users in Canada, and a message saying this is in response to domestic legislation is visible.
But since The Australia Today has said that its pages were blocked due to the orders of the Canadian government after Jaishankar’s interview, their publisher is effectively claiming that the pages were viewable to Canadians despite the Meta block, which has affected all other news outlets .
The same notice from Meta greets any internet user identified to be from Canada to the Instagram and Facebook pages of The New York Times and Canada’s own Globe and Mail newspaper.
Similarly, the Instagram and Facebook pages of The Wire, India Today, NDTV and CNN-News 18 are also not viewable in Canada. All these news outlets reported on India calling out the Canadian government’s ‘block’ on The Australia Today but had not mentioned that their own pages cannot be seen by any Canadian user.
It’s not just The Australia Today – international outlets and even Canadian ones have their pages blocked on Meta platforms (in this collage are screenshots from Facebook).
The Wire ‘s Instagram and Facebook pages have also been blocked in Canada with the message from Meta platforms.
The Wire has sought comments from the MEA, the Canadian high commission and The Australia Today . This article will be updated if there is any comment.
India is currently in the midst of a worsening diplomatic crisis with Canada that began in September last year.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had claimed that there were “credible” allegations that Indian government agents were behind the shooting of a Canadian national Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who had been proscribed as a Khalistani terrorist by India.
India had vehemently denied any involvement, taking a number of steps to express its anger at the Canadian accusation.
Last month, the Canadian government claimed that Indian diplomats, including high commissioner Sanjay Verma, were involved in a wider series of activities that targeted other Khalistani separatists based in Canada. India strongly denied the claim as preposterous and immediately with drew Verma and six other Indian diplomats, while expelling six Canadian diplomats at the same time for interfering in India’s internal affairs.
At a Canadian parliamentary hearing, Canada’s deputy foreign minister David Morisson even claimed that Indian home minister Amit Shah could have been involved. India dismissed his statements as absurd and summoned the acting Canadian deputy high commissioner to register a protest.
Thereafter, clashes outside a temple in Brampton, Ontario prompted expressions of concern about the welfare of the Indian community from the Indian leadership. Jaishankar also raised the issue during his press conference with the Australian foreign minister.
