Blocking of news in Canada by Meta affecting media outlets that don't produce news

The blocking of Canadian news by social media giant Meta has affected some unlikely media outlets whose primary purpose is not the production of news.

But the good news is at least one is back online.

The blocking, however, is affecting satirical websites and university radio stations.

The Beaverton, which describes itself as a "satire and parody publication," was blocked by Meta on Facebook and Instagram a week ago after the technology conglomerate mistakenly lumped it in with news providers in Canada. Its readers, however, could once again see its content online by Thursday.

Luke Gordon Field, editor in chief of The Beaverton, said the blocking prompted him to act. The blocking was no joke, he said.

Field wrote an open letter to Meta threatening CEO Mark Zuckerberg with a fake lawsuit for defaming the publication by calling it a news organization. That letter was posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Field said he also "fiddled" with the settings on the publication's Facebook page, changing its "about" information, to make it clear that The Beaverton is an entertainment and comedy company, not a news company.

"As comedians and comedy writers being compared to journalists, who have to be objective and fair and work extremely hard, was incredibly insulting to us and frankly defamatory," Field told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Tuesday. 

"And we would not take it anymore because we just consider ourselves superior to journalists of all natures."

The Beaverton never formally asked Meta to review its decision but Field said he believes the outcry, plus the changes to its Facebook information, pushed Meta to lift the ban. Readers enjoyed the letter, he added.

In an interview with CBC Toronto later, Field said The Beaverton advised Facebook that "we were in fact satirists, liars, miscreants, tricksters."

LISTEN | Luke Gordon Field of The Beaverton talks to Metro Morning about Meta:

Meta has begun to remove all news from its Facebook and Instagram platforms in Canada in response to a new federal law that would force the company to compensate media outlets for content that is shared or otherwise repurposed on their platforms.

"We're a creature of social media," Field told CBC Radio. "We rely on people coming to our website and the few pennies we get from online advertisers every time someone does in order to keep the lights on and pay our writing staff. From a business perspective, it's not just important but necessary."