Canada requires Meta to lift its ban and allow users to share forest fire information

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizen Coje_He for the clue delivery! CTOnews.com, Aug. 20 (Reuters)-the Canadian government has asked Meta to lift its ban on sharing Canadian news on its platform to allow people to share information about wildfires in the west.

CTOnews.com learned from Reuters that Meta began blocking news on all Canadian users' Facebook and Instagram platforms this month in response to a new law requiring Internet giants to pay for news articles. The Canadian government was quick to condemn the move as "irresponsible" and said the world was paying attention to Canada's process.

A wildfire broke out near the town of Huangdao (about 10 miles) in western Canada. Mike Westwick, a fire information officer, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the fire could spread to the outskirts of the city over the weekend, and more than 20,000 people in Huangdao are being evacuated. Residents of Huangdao Town complained to the media that the ban prevented them from sharing important data about the fire.

Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said: "We call on them to resume news sharing today to ensure the safety of Canadians facing this emergency. We need more news now."

In response, a spokesman for Meta said by email that the company has activated the "security check" function on Facebook, allowing users to disseminate their own safety information after a natural disaster or crisis.

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