The Facebook and Instagram pages for the Delta Optimist are virtually non-existent thanks to Meta’s response to Bill C-18.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been gradually stripping news from it and Instagram in Canada rather than pay a tax on links to news.
The bill, brought forward by the Liberal Government, was supposed to help news agencies, but instead has started to cripple them and their ability to get vital information out to the public.
Meta has decided to cut off our and every other news outlets news links rather than cut cheques each time a news story appears on their platforms. The problem specifically for us is, Google and Meta deliver the majority of our digital audience to us, free of charge. If they walk away from news, our audience walks away with them if it doesn’t find alternatives to Google News, to Google Alerts, and to its search engine, and more immediately, to Facebook and Instagram.
So how can you help the Delta Optimist?
You can go to our website at: www.delta-optimist.com and subscribe to our daily newsletters. They’re free, available mornings or afternoons or both on weekdays, and very shortly on weekends.
You can subscribe to our digital and/or print journalism at: www.delta-optimist.com.
Add www.delta-optimist.com to the home screen of your cellular phone.
If you’re on an iPhone, open the Safari browser and go to www.delta-optimist.com. Tap the Share button (the box with the up-pointing arrow). Scroll down until you see the “Add to Home Screen” from the menu. If you’re on an Android device, open Chrome, Firefox or Edge browsers and select “Add to Phone” or “Add to Home Screen” prompt from the menu.
Add www.delta-optimist.com as a bookmark on your laptop or desktop.
Follow our accounts on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).
Here’s hoping that the federal government will change course or Meta will change its mind and you will be able to enjoy our Facebook feed once again.
-with files from Kirk Lapointe
