Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called Facebook harmful to democracy after the news service began blocking access to information on its platforms in Canada amid the wildfire crisis.

“It’s so inconceivable that a company like Facebook would choose to put corporate profits ahead of ensuring local news organizations can deliver up-to-date information to and reach Canadians,” Trudeau said ahead of a meeting of the firm in Prince Edward Island. Monday in the comments reported for the new york post office.

Trudeau’s anger at Facebook comes as the company begins enforcing a new policy that bars users residing in Canada from accessing news, in response to a recent Canadian law that forces the company to pay publishers for content shared on the platform.

In response, Facebook has drastically reduced its role as the country’s news service — a problem in an emergency like the one Canada is currently facing, when summer wildfires forced evacuation. of approximately 35,000 families in the western province of British Columbia.

“Democracy depends on people’s ability to trust high-quality journalism and all kinds of different perspectives and viewpoints,” Trudeau said Monday. “But right now, in an emergency, up-to-date local information is more important than ever.”

The PM’s allegation is that Facebook’s policies threaten people’s safety – a charge a Facebook spokesperson denied in a statement provided to the Associated press in which they said Canadian Facebook users can still use the platform “to connect with their communities and access trusted information, including authoritative content.”

The dispute between Canadian lawmakers and companies like Facebook and Google that will be affected by the payment bill has been simmering for months.

In comments last year, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook’s parent company Meta, said Canadian law “is based on the flawed premise that Meta benefits unfairly from news content shared on our platforms, whereas the reverse is true”.

In fact, experts say, Facebook’s popularity as a news-sharing platform has contributed to the bankruptcy of a number of media outlets, while enjoy in some cases, by spreading misinformation.

Meanwhile, wildfires across Canada continue to burn and drive families from their homes. By PublishThere have been more than 5,700 fires in Canada this summer, which have scorched over 50,000 square miles – and the resulting smoke has been felt in many parts of the US states.