After a firestorm over accusations, Australia Today clarifies that the ban was by metaplatforms, not the Canadian government

The Australian media portal said it had not been “selectively blocked” by the Canadian government and that it was “unaware” that metaplatforms Facebook and Instagram had decided not to broadcast all news content on their sites in Canada due to a dispute about the Canadian media. Online News Act’ since 2023. | Photo credit: Reuters

The Australian media portal at the center of a storm between India and Canada clarified on Monday (November 11, 2024) that it had not been “selectively blocked” by the Canadian government as previously stated. In a statement responding to a denial from Canada’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, the portal, which focuses on Indian diaspora issues, said it was “unaware” that metaplatforms Facebook and Instagram had decided not to disable all news content on their sites send. in Canada due to a dispute over Canada’s “Online News Act” since 2023.

However, it alleged that an unnamed ‘Khalistani propaganda’ news site remained accessible on Canada’s Facebook and Instagram, leading to the assumption that there had been ‘selective blocking’ of the site. Based on the allegations made by Australia Today, the Foreign Affairs spokesperson had said last week that these were “actions that once again highlight Canada’s hypocrisy over freedom of expression”.

Although the Canadian government denied blocking any site, and the portal itself has provided clarity, the ministry declined to comment on the matter on Monday.

When asked, officials pointed to the Australia Today statement issued by editor-in-chief Jitarth Jai Bharadwaj.

“We acknowledge the recent statement from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and would like to clarify that we first learned that users in Canada were unable to access our Facebook and Instagram pages shortly after publishing our interview with the Indian minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar,” Mr. Bharadwaj explained. “Previously we were not aware of any issues with the accessibility of ‘The Australia Today’ content in Canada on meta-platforms.”

Earlier on Sunday, Canada’s Foreign Ministry, known as Global Affairs Canada, issued a sharp response to the allegations.

“Australia Today has never been banned in Canada. The news site and media commentary video from both Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar and Australian Foreign Minister Wong can be easily and freely viewed in Canada. In Canada, Meta, which owns and operates Facebook and Instagram, blocked the sharing of news content on their sites regardless of the point of sale,” the company said in its statement.

Questions about the ministry’s statement against the Canadian government had gained prominence after an Indian fact-checking site “Boom” investigated the allegations and found Australia Today’s claim that this was the case. specifically banned on the grounds that publishing Mr Jaishankar’s interview was false.

In May 2023, Meta President for Global Affairs Nick Clegg (former British Deputy Prime Minister) had announced that in response to the Canadian government’s actions to rein in Big Tech with strict regulations on news portals on its social media sites, Meta would end the availability of news content in Canada.