The Daily Chase: Markets point to negative open; Facebook to end news availability
BNN Bloomberg
North American equity markets are tracking towards a lower open, putting Wall Street on track for a losing week.
OTTAWA STARES DOWN TECH TITANS OVER ONLINE NEWS ACT
It’s shaping up to be something of a game of chicken between the federal government and a pair of tech titans after Bill C-18 – the Online News Act – received senate backing yesterday. The act, which would force the likes of Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Google owner Alphabet to compensate news organizations for linking to their stories, has found few friends in Silicon Valley, with Meta declaring it will end the availability of news on Facebook and Instagram once the law comes into effect (expected in some six months’ time.) Google, for its part, says it’s working toward avoiding such an outcome and will work with the government on a path forward (not to mention, the company has struck partnerships with a number of news outlets to continue linking to their articles.) It’s a delicate dance all around here – legacy media has been in structural decline as revenues erode, prompting the bill to funnel more cash to said outlets, but in fairness, links on social media do go back to the main pages of news organizations, which drives page views.
CANOPY GROWTH POSTS $648M NET LOSS