Leger has released some interesting results coming from its latest survey that asked Canadians about their perceptions of Bill C-18 and its implications on their news consumption habits.
Overall, the findings show that awareness of Bill C-18 is high among Canadians, with about three-quarters of Canadians being aware of the legislation. Also, nearly half of Canadians (47%) have seen changes in their online feed since Meta blocked news content. This proportion is higher among respondents who mainly get their news via social media (59%) and Quebecers (54%).
Another finding was that two-thirds of Canadians believe that news should be free and accessible to anyone. Those who mainly get their news via social media are more likely (75%) to think that news should be free and accessible to anyone.
Some other interesting conclusions:
- 43% of Canadians support Bill C-18, while 31% are opposed, and 26% don’t know enough about the situation to have an opinion.
- 59% believe that Meta should lift its current ban on Canadian news on its platforms.
- Since news is blocked on Meta platforms, 22% turn more to radio and television, and 20% to free media websites and applications to access news content. Only 6% of Canadians would pay for a subscription to access news directly.
You can download a full copy of the report here.
