Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, has said Facebook is putting “profits ahead of people’s safety” after the social media site blocked news following wildfires in the country.

According to reports by the BBC, people fleeing the wildfires have said the move has impacted their ability to share critical information.

During a news conference, Trudeau said the actions of the social media site were “inconceivable”.

Meta restricted access to news on its platforms in Canada on 1 August this year after the government granted Royal Ascent to the Online News Act. This legislation effectively mandates online platforms like Facebook to pay original news publishers for their content when it is shared on the site.

Meta, Facebook's parent company, called the law "fundamentally flawed".

Meta told the BBC that it had added a “safety check” feature which allowed people living in evacuated regions to mark themselves safe and access "reputable information, including content from official government agencies".

Data cited by the BBC suggests that about 77 per cent of Canadians use Facebook, and one in four of those users rely on it for news.

National Technology News has reached out to Meta for comment.

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