With a 100% failure rate, lobbyists have decided to try boycotting Meta again. This one appears to be another user protest.
After Facebook began dropping news links, media companies and lobbyists were convinced that such an effort won’t last a week. In their warped minds, platforms like Facebook and Instagram depend entirely on news links. Without news links, the platforms would practically shut down overnight as far as they were concerned. Reality, obviously, said otherwise. The news links blocking remains nearly a month and a half later, engagement on Meta platforms remain unchanged while the engagement for media companies collapsed. It drove home the point that publishers need platforms far more than platforms need publishers. If anything, it highlights the complete lack of options those media companies and lobbyists have.
Desperation set in with those same lobbyists as well as the Canadian government. The government attempted to launch an advertiser boycott of Meta, thinking that all of Canada would join in on their cause. As a result, the platforms would have no choice but to “come to heel” and start going along with the link tax. The boycott was a total failure with even the Liberal party (the current governing party) refusing to participate in their own boycott. Those that did participate couldn’t even make a financial dent on Meta as a result of their boycott.
Supporters of the new law were left completely humiliated, but not undeterred. In response, lobbyists pushed for a 2nd boycott of Meta. The incorrect thinking is that all of Canada is behind them and all Canadians were waiting for was a signal to stop using the platforms. Nothing could’ve been further from the truth as evidence repeatedly concluded that people use platforms like Facebook to communicate with each other and share memes and funny pictures. To the surprise of no one paying attention, the 2nd boycott ended in an abysmal failure with the only evidence of it going on was a thank you note from the campaign page.
Supporters of the Online News Act couldn’t have been more embarrassed. Few outside of their choir was joining in on their cause. Critics were repeatedly proven correct. You would think that twice would be enough humiliation.
Evidently not.
We have learned of a third boycott in the works. The details of what is being called for are a bit hazy, but it sounds like they are calling on journalists to stop using Meta… maybe? This along with calling on users to stop using Meta for the day as well. Either way, Victoria Buzz is noting all of this:
The impacts of Canada’s Bill C-18, more commonly known as the Online News Act, have continued to have detrimental effects on all sectors of journalism over the past few months since it received royal assent at the end of May.
Now, Canadian journalists and many who work in public relations are pushing for a set day of online protest where people will refrain from using any Meta platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
The date of the online protest, which has been dubbed ‘#DayWithoutMeta’, will be Friday, September 15th because the day also correlates to International Democracy Day.
This day was chosen to remind Meta that a true and healthy democracy requires free and easy access to news and online media without billionaire capitalists’ censorship.
It really couldn’t be understated just how delusional this all is. With FRIENDS already attempting this earlier on with little to nothing to show for it, what hope does some random publication have at being any different? As we already know, a good chunk of people in Canada aren’t even really aware that this is going on in the first place. Canadian’s generally aren’t in favour of the link tax law in the first place. This publication is somehow under the impression that things will be different this time despite it being less well organized than before. This is well and truly the classic definition of insanity of trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Either way, it sounds like lobbyists haven’t been humiliated enough, so we can simply sit back and watch this dead on arrival boycott play out. In all likelihood, it will fail just like the other two boycotts.
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
