Opinion posted Apr 14, 2025 @ 12:55pm by Jim Csek

Opinion: Democracy dies in the dark – and Bill C-18 turned off the lights

Jim Csek is chief operating officer and video host at NowMedia.

Contributions published by KelownaNow reflect only the opinions of those who write them, and not necessarily those of KelownaNow or its staff.

Democracy dies in the dark—Bill C-18 turned off the lights

Canada is now the only Western democracy where news is banned on Facebook and Instagram.

Instead of supporting innovation, the Liberal government picked a fight with Meta, forcing them to remove all Canadian news from their platforms.

The result?

Traffic and revenue at independent media outlets have been cut in half.
Nearly 100 newsrooms—many local and community-based—are gone.
Misinformation is surging, while real journalism is banned.
And now? The same Liberal government that vowed to boycott Meta is spending millions on election ads there.

They silenced the press—then bought the microphone.

<who> Photo credit: 123RF/Mark Carney/X

Media fights for its survival with the Liberals promising more crumbs if they behave and the Conservative Party of Canada under Pierre Poilievre vow to repeal Bill C-18 and end funding. To some that rely on the crumbs this distorts their true purpose, to others like us, it is freedom of the press.

Bill C-18 didn’t save journalism. It accelerated its funeral.

Independent media isn’t just essential—it’s the backbone of our democracy.

The toll since Bill C-18:

Over 80 community newspapers have shut their doors, especially in rural and underserved areas.
Bell Media laid off 4,800 employees in early 2024, citing Bill C-18 and industry pressures.
Online engagement with Canadian news dropped significantly due to Meta’s nationwide news block.
Some outlets folded entirely; others gutted their newsrooms and pivoted to lifestyle or influencer content to survive.

What’s worse:

The very law that was supposed to “save journalism” has accelerated its decline.

Meta pulled out. Google negotiated a narrow deal. And the government went back to advertising on Meta, breaking its own boycott.

More on Bill C-18 can be found here: