The newspapers are being terribly cakeist here

Meta has begun the process to end access to news on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada, the company said on Tuesday.

The move comes in response to legislation in the country requiring internet giants to pay news publishers.

Meta’s communications director, Andy Stone, said the changes will roll out in the coming weeks.

Canada’s heritage minister, Pascale St-Onge, who is in charge of the government’s dealings with Meta, called the move irresponsible.

The demand is that if Facebook or Google have a link to a newspaper article on their site (s) then Google and or Facebook must pay the newspaper for that link.

Which just does sound terribly cakeist to us. Having actually worked for a number of new outlets - including some you might even have heard of - gaining a link for mention in Google and Facebook is the aim of much writing in the online press. Getting something to “go viral” can mean an extra half a million to a million readers. All of whom then get to see the advertisements on that particular page of the news site.

The idea that Google and or Facebook should be forced to pay a newspaper for sending them the traffic that then makes the newspaper money is absurd.

Do note, this is not about someone publishing a full article and thus breaching copyright. This is about a link to the piece so people can go and read it.

What’s really happening here is that newspapers still have considerable political power. Therefore they’re able to get the law bent to their economic interests and dang anyone else or even the consumer. Which is, of course, that classically liberal argument about not having special or preferential laws. For it will always be those with political power who are able to gain such privileges. If even the ability to gain privileges exists then it will be the politically powerful who gain them. Therefore, don’t allow economic privilege.

Simple rules that apply to all - anything else is just cakeism.