Facebook president of global affairs Nick Clegg previously accepted the invitation, but said the hearing’s title was too ‘confrontational.’KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images
Nick Clegg, Facebook’s president of global affairs, didn’t turn up to address the Commons heritage committee on Monday, because the social-media giant had deemed the title of the day’s hearing too “confrontational.”
Although Mr. Clegg, who is the former Liberal deputy prime minister of Britain, had previously accepted an invitation to appear before the committee, he decided not to come after the hearing’s title was posted.
The hearing was called “Tech Giants’ Use of Intimidation Tactics.”
MPs on the committee expressed dismay, and moved to summon Mr. Clegg to testify later this month.
The purpose of the hearing was to allow the committee to question Facebook about its decision to withdraw Canadians’ access to news on its platform, which it has said it will do if Bill C-18 becomes law in its current form. The bill would make Google and Facebook pay news organizations for posting or linking to their work.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather accused Meta, Facebook’s parent company, of not only using its influence to leverage the government into changing the shape of the bill, but also trying to change the titles of Commons committee hearings.
“So Meta wants to dictate to us what legislation we should pass, and they also want to dictate to this committee what we call our meetings,” he said. “I am aghast.”
Kevin Chan, Facebook’s global policy director, and Rachel Curran, its head of public policy for Canada, did attend the hearing, where they faced sharp questions from Liberal, NDP and Bloc Québécois MPs.
In reply to Mr. Housefather, Ms. Curran told the committee there was a “large team” working on how Facebook would respond to the passing of Bill C-18 in its current form.
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“We have a broad cross-functional team … working on this file, working to understand the legislation, working to prepare for the ending of the availability of news on our platforms,” she said.
Among the social-media platform’s main concerns with the bill, she said, is that the legislation would require it to pay publishers who post news on Facebook voluntarily. She said Facebook also objects to the fact that the bill covers audiovisual content. Facebook has argued that C-18 should apply only to text.
Mr. Chan read out Mr. Clegg’s prepared remarks – including the introduction, “My name is Nick Clegg.”
Mr. Clegg’s statement called C-18 “Robin Hood in reverse” and said the bill would reward established broadcasters, rather than the local and regional publishers the bill had aimed to support.
The Facebook executives said Mr. Clegg had been looking forward to addressing Canadian MPs.
Mr. Chan told MPs Meta had notified the committee on Friday “that our president would no longer be appearing,” because “the title of the hearing was changed to a much more confrontational one” that seemed not to be about the online news bill.
The committee voted on Monday to change the title and issue a summons for Mr. Clegg to appear. They also asked Facebook to produce a slew of documents.
The online news bill has passed through the Commons and is currently being considered in the Senate.
Ms. Curran said Facebook would not block access to essential services, such as the websites of hospitals or governments. The company faced criticism for temporarily blocking access to those types of websites in Australia, along with news, in response to a similar law. Ms. Curran said this was a mistake.
Reading the opening remarks Mr. Clegg had planned to deliver, Mr. Chan said Bill C-18 “puts Meta in an invidious position.”
“In order to comply, we have to either operate in a flawed regulatory environment, or we have to end the availability of news content in Canada,” he said. “With a heavy heart we choose the latter. As the Minister of Canadian Heritage has said, this is a business decision. It’s not something we want to do, but it is what we will have to.”