I can no longer see posts, stories or The Narwhal’s own feed from our Instagram account.
As some of you may know, I’m The Narwhal’s audience engagement editor and it’s part of my job to interact with readers like you about all of our award-winning reporting. So it’s a problem when someone blocks me from doing that job.
It’s not a quandary I’m facing alone; outlets like the CBC, Chatelaine, The Tyee, The Breach and others have recently written about similar experiences. “People in Canada can’t see your content,” a message reads, as part of testing being done by Meta to simulate what the platform would look like without Canadian news.
You’ve read all about it, but here’s the short version: Google and Meta have said they will block Canadian news content for readers in Canada — on Instagram and Google products like Search, Discover and News — in response to the federal government’s Online News Act, a law that requires tech giants to negotiate deals with news outlets and pay for featuring news content on their platforms.
This means all recent stories you might have read — Yukon First Nations adopting a youth climate plan; how an Olympic coach is teaching young racialized women to swim; or what causes wildfires — will no longer be available on apps you use most on your smartphones.
We know people across Canada are worried. Not only have we heard it firsthand, but a recent poll by Angus Reid Institute suggests about 63 per cent of readers are concerned about what those smartphone apps, that are a part of so many people’s daily routine, will look like once the law comes into effect.
Even if you miss seeing us on your feed, we won’t go anywhere. After all, The Narwhal was born to produce in-depth environmental journalism in Canada — which can often feel dark and hopeless — to find hope and imagine what’s possible for the natural world.
And as this tug-of-war plays out, we haven’t lost that hope.
Have more suggestions for The Narwhal’s reporting to reach more people despite threats by social media giants? Email me at karan@thenarwhal.ca.
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