India calls blocking of Australia outlet’s social media handles in Canada ‘strange’

India has called the blocking of social media handles of Australia Today, a diaspora-run media outlet, in Canada “strange.”

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) said it found “strange” that Ottawa “blocked” the news outlet, and accused it of “hypocrisy” towards “freedom of speech.”

The move came following the broadcast of a press conference of external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong on its social media pages, MEA said.

“We understand that the social media handles and pages of this particular outlet have been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a press conference.

“This happened just an hour or so, a few hours after this particular handle carried the press conference of external affairs minister along with Penny Wong. And the particular media outlet also had several articles on the visit of the minister and his interview; so we were surprised. It looks strange to us. But nonetheless, what I will say that these are actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech,” Jaiswal said.

Jaiswal hinted that Jaishankar’s statement on Canada’s allegations against India, and the Justin Trudeau-led government’s “surveillance” of Indian diplomats could have motivated Ottawa to block the outlet.

“You would have seen that EAM and his media engagement, interaction, he spoke about three things. One was Canada making allegations and a pattern has developed without any specific evidence. Second thing highlighted was that surveillance of Indian diplomats have been happening in Canada, which he (Jaishankar) termed as unacceptable. And then third thing which he highlighted was the political space which is being given in Canada to anti-India elements. So, you can draw your conclusions from that,” Jaiswal said.

Social media and news content

To be sure, Facebook parent Meta had in September this year posted the following message on its website: “In response to the Online News Act, content from global news outlets, including news publishers and broadcasters, will not be available to people accessing Facebook and Instagram in Canada.”

“People in Canada will no longer view or share news on Facebook and Instagram, including news content posted by news outlets. In addition, people in Canada will no longer see links or content from any news outlet Pages or Accounts.”

Last week, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission granted Google a five-year exemption from the Online News Act, ordering it to release $100 million it owes to Canadian news outlets within 60 days.

Google had agreed last year to pay Canadian news publishers $100 million a year, indexed to inflation, in order to be exempt from the law, which compels tech firms to enter into deals with news publishers to pay for content reposted on their platforms.

The Canadian foreign ministry did not respond to a query regarding the blocking of the handles.

India-Canada ties in downward spiral

Ties between New Delhi and Ottawa took a hit after Trudeau alleged last September that Indian government agents were involved in the killing of Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, in 2022.

India promptly dismissed the allegations, calling them “absurd” and “motivated”.

In tit-for-tat moves, both India and Canada expelled diplomats, worsening the crisis.

Amid the rising tensions, New Delhi has maintained that Ottawa has been harboring “extremists and terrorists,” who “continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”