Meta adamant, but Justin Trudeau says Canada to keep pressure on Facebook to pay for news | Tech News

Meta adamant, but Justin Trudeau says Canada to keep pressure on Facebook to pay for news

Ottawa will keep pushing Meta to comply with a new law requiring large internet companies to pay Canadian news publishers for their content, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday, but the Facebook parent stood by its decision to block news sharing rather than pay.

By:REUTERS
| Updated on: Dec 16 2023, 20:28 IST
Meta AI is here: Know how to talk to the chatbot on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook
Facebook
1/6 In September 2023, Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, made a big announcement that it was adding its own native AI chatbot called Meta AI to all of its messaging services. As a result, the chatbot was added to Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct Messages (DM), and WhatsApp. In September, Meta AI was released in a limited capacity as part of its beta testing, but now it is available to users in the US. (Meta)
Facebook
2/6 Meta AI is an integrated chat experience. You can have an individual conversation with it as well as have it pop up in group conversations to help out with a various things. Meta AI is multimodal, so alongside text responses, it can also generate images from simple text prompts. All you have to type is “@MetaAI /imagine” followed by your prompt. (REUTERS)
Facebook
3/6 What is interesting about Meta AI is that it has also added a bunch of different personalities that you can interact with. These show up as profiles on Facebook Messenger and Instagram. All you have to do is click on them and speak with their AI replicas. Some of the notable people with Meta AI persona include Charli D’Amelio as Coco, Dance enthusiast, MrBeast as Zach, Paris Hilton as Amber, Tom Brady as Bru, and more.  (Meta)
Facebook
4/6 Meta AI can also recommend Reels. This is a new feature which was announced on December 6. Users can go to Meta AI ask it to show Reels for a particular theme and the chatbot will deliver.  In a blog post, the company said, “Say you’re planning a trip to Tokyo with friends in your group chat, you can ask Meta AI to recommend the best places to visit and share Reels of the top sites to help you decide which attractions are must-sees”. (Meta)
Facebook
5/6 Another new feature introduced is called ‘reimagine’ which will be available only in group chats. This is how it works: Meta AI generates and shares the initial image you requested, then your friend can press and hold on the picture to riff on it with a simple text prompt and Meta AI will generate an entirely new image.  (Meta)
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6/6 Apart from this, Meta is working on a number of other features which are currently in testing phase. “We’re exploring ways for you to use AI to help you create the perfect birthday greeting to share with your bestie, edit your own Feed posts, draft a clever introduction for your Facebook Dating profile or even set up a new Group”. Additionally, Meta is also testing a feature that will let users see highlights of the conversations in group chats that they missed out on. (Meta)
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Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has decided to block news sharing in Canada to avoid making payments, (REUTERS)

Ottawa will keep pushing Meta to comply with a new law requiring large internet companies to pay Canadian news publishers for their content, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday, but the Facebook parent stood by its decision to block news sharing rather than pay. The government on Friday published final regulations for the Online News Act before enforcement starts Dec. 19. The law requires technology companies with 20 million unique monthly users and annual revenues of C$1 billion ($748 million) or more to compensate Canadian news outlets for publishing links to their pages.

Alphabet's Google and Meta are the only platforms that fall under those criteria in Canada. Google agreed last month to pay C$100 million annually to news publishers in the country. Meta, in contrast, decided to block news on Facebook and Instagram in Canada to avoid the payments.

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"We will continue to push Meta, that makes billions of dollars in profits, even though it is refusing to invest in the journalistic rigor and stability of the media," Trudeau told reporters in Vancouver.

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Meta said it will stick to its decision. "News outlets choose to use our free services because it helps their bottom line, and today's release of final regulations does not change our business decision," said Rachel Curran, head of public policy for Meta Canada.

The law, part of a global trend, is designed to address Canadian media industry concerns about declining revenue as internet companies elbow news businesses out of the online advertising market.

Meta started blocking news sharing on Facebook and Instagram in August, saying news holds no economic value for its businesses.

Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) would "pay close attention to Facebook and Meta" as part of its enforcement.

Paul Deegan, CEO of industry body News Media Canada, said the government had delivered a "durable, world-leading framework that is balanced and predictable for both news publishers and platforms," and called on Meta to follow Google's lead.

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First Published Date: 16 Dec, 20:28 IST
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