Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Criticized Meta
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized Meta, the company that owns Facebook, for blocking news within Canada. He said that Meta is more interested in making money than keeping people safe, especially during serious wildfires that are causing many people to leave their homes.
Trudeau's comments are part of a larger disagreement between the government and Meta. Meta recently stopped showing news on its platforms like Facebook and Instagram for everyone in Canada. This happened because of a new law that says big internet companies have to pay for news stories.
Meta had already said that this new law wouldn't work for its business. So, they stopped showing news even before the law officially started. Trudeau spoke on TV from a place called Prince Edward Island and said that Meta, which owns Facebook, is worrying about money more than people's safety. He said it was really hard to believe that they would do this.
Last week, some important government members also said that stopping news is dangerous and not smart. People who are trying to escape from wildfires couldn't share important information because of this.
Right now, Canada is facing really bad wildfires, worse than ever before. Fires have destroyed a lot of places in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories in the last week. Trudeau wants big companies like Facebook to do better and care more about the people they make money from. He said this while he was in Cornwall, Prince Edward Island.
Someone from Meta said that Canadians can still use Facebook to stay in touch with their communities and get information. They can find official news from the government, emergency services, and other groups.
Till Friday, more than 45,000 people said they are safe using Facebook's "Safety Check" tool. Also, around 300,000 people went to special pages on Facebook for help in places called Yellowknife and Kelowna, where the wildfires are really bad.