Australian media outlet 'The Australia Today' on Monday called out the Canadian government for "selective blocking" of its content while not acting against another media outlet that airs "anti-India and pro-Khalistan propaganda".
The Australian media outlet was banned in Canada hours after it carried the interview of external affairs minister S Jaishankar and a press conference he addressed with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong.
The Canadian foreign ministry later denied banning Australia Today, claiming that it was Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, that blocked the sharing of news content of their sites. "This is due to a decision by Meta to block news on its social media platforms in Canada since 2023," it said.
In a statement, Australia Today editor-in-chief Jitarth Jai Bharadwaj responded to the Canadian foreign ministry's clarification and said that it was only after it published the interview of Jaishankar that such issues arose.
" ... we first learned that users in Canada were unable to access our Facebook and Instagram pages shortly after publishing our interview with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar. Before this, we were not aware of any issues regarding the accessibility of 'The Australia Today' content in Canada on Meta platforms," he said.
Statement from The Australia Today:We acknowledge the recent statement from the Canadian Foreign Ministry and would like to clarify that we first learned that users in Canada were unable to access our Facebook and Instagram pages shortly after publishing our interview with pic.twitter.com/jXWyd4vVFa
The Australia Today (@TheAusToday) November 11, 2024
He added that the media outlet was made aware of the Canadian government's legislation that led to Meta's policy restricting access to news content after the interview was aired.
"Considering that another news outlet, known for its alleged anti-India reporting and Khalistan propaganda, remains accessible on both Facebook and Instagram in Canada, our logical conclusion was that there was selective blocking of our content on the platforms," he said.
The editor-in-chief added that The Australia Today has not received any official notification or email from Meta regarding specific restrictions applied to its Facebook or Instagram pages.
"The Australia Today remains committed to bringing diverse Australian multicultural stories and global Indian Diaspora perspectives to our readers, and we look forward to continued engagement with our Canadian audience, albeit through other accessible channels beyond Meta's platforms," he said.
In an earlier statement, the platform said that the recent restriction and ban on its interview with Jaishankar and the press conference with Wong under "orders from the Canadian government" was hard on its team and those who value "free and open journalism".
Earlier, in an interview to CNN-News18, Bharadwaj asked why Canada was targeting the Australian media outlet when Canada had problems with India.
Last week, India called out Canada’s “hypocrisy towards freedom of speech" after the country banned Australia Today.
During Jaishankar’s official trip to Australia, Wong raised Canada’s allegations against India and said she discussed the issue with him in Canberra.
Ties between India and Canada have nosedived since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations of New Delhi's involvement in the killing of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The Canada government has also accused top Indian officials of targeting Khalistani extremists in the country.
India has denied the allegations as "absurd" and called out Canada for giving space to pro-Khalistani elements to conduct anti-India activities.
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