Broadcasting - Secretary General Letter addressed to Dan Ball (Meta Platforms Inc.)
Ottawa, 26 November 2024
BY EMAIL
Dan Ball
Public Policy Director
Meta Platforms Inc.
1 Meta Way, Menlo Park, United States
danball@meta.com
Subject: Confidentiality request for your letter regarding application of the Online News Act
Dear Dan Ball,
This letter is to address the request for confidentiality contained in the letter dated 17 October 2024 from Meta Platforms Inc. (Meta) addressed to Commission staff. On 28 October 2024, you provided the reasons for which Meta requests confidentiality of the entirety of the above-mentioned letter. On 7 November 2024, Commission staff sent a letter to you requesting that Meta:
- disclose the entirety of the response letter dated 17 October 2024 by filing a new copy of the letter without a confidential designation; or
- file a reply, in which case the Commission will consider all representations and determine whether the information is relevant to a matter before it and whether disclosure is in the public interest pursuant to paragraph 55(5)(a) of the Online News Act (the Act).
On 12 November 2024, you reiterated Meta’s position that the information contained in the initial response provided on 17 October 2024 should be treated as confidential.
Section 55 of the Act provides that entities may designate certain information submitted to the Commission as confidential if it falls into one of the categories outlined in that section. For confidential information, the Commission relies on the procedures set out in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2010-961.
The Commission has reviewed your request for confidentiality and considers that the information provided in the 17 October 2024 letter is not detailed enough to allow users to circumvent any measures that Meta has taken to comply with the Act, and that the release of the information would not result in harm to Meta sufficient to justify a designation of confidentiality. Furthermore, the Commission considers that the information provided is relevant to the administration of the Act and its Regulations, and releasing the information would serve the public interest.
Lastly, the Commission determined that Meta did not provide an adequate explanation of why the information provided in the 17 October 2024 response should be considered confidential under subsection 55(1) of the Act, and why its disclosure would not be in the public interest.
For these reasons, the Commission has denied Meta’s request for confidentiality, and Meta must file a new copy of the 17 October 2024 letter with the Commission without a confidentiality designation by 11 December 2024.
Sincerely,
Marc Morin
Secretary General
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