To Quebecor, Cogeco, The press, The Canadian government, along with those of Quebec, Hydro-Quebec and Loto-Quebec, decided on Thursday to also suspend their advertising on Facebook and Instagram in protest at the web giant’s threat to block journalistic content.
• Also read: United front in Quebec and Ottawa against Meta
• Also read: Message Blocking: Quebecor, Cogeco and The press set their ads to Meta
“Hydro-Québec is suspending its advertising placements on the Meta Facebook and Instragam platforms until further notice,” Louis-Olivier Batty, strategic advisor at Hydro-Québec, said in an email on Thursday.
This makes Hydro-Québec the second government company to take this action, after SAQ, which was the first to do so the previous day.
“We have blocked our ads on Facebook. We favor predominantly advertising buys from Quebec media and buys on Facebook are marginal in comparison,” later confirmed in the Journal, Loto-Québec spokesman Renaud Dugas.
During the day, the College of Physicians of Quebec (CMQ) and the Quebec National Assembly also halted their advertising purchases.
- Listen to the Payne-Villemure meeting with Nic Payne, political analyst at Rémi Villemure’s microphone QUB radio :
Over $6.7 million in ads
Quebec had expressed a wish for its state-owned companies to limit the purchase of ads from Meta, but said it could not force them to do so.
Over the past five years, the Quebec government has spent more than $6.7 million on Facebook and Instagram ads, averaging about $1.3 million per year.
In comparison, the federal government spent over $50 million on ads on these platforms during the same period.
A large mobilization formed on Wednesday against Meta’s threats to block Canadian journalistic content on its platforms, while the federal and Quebec governments, as well as several cities and media outlets decided to suspend their advertising with the internet giant.
-In collaboration with Michael Nguyen