- CASE STUDIES
Meta's news ban on social media
How we helped Turkish Voice of Canada
About the client
Turkish Voice of Canada (TVC) was established in January 2020 by journalist Irep Cakır to highlight the stories of Turkish immigrant women entrepreneurs in Canada. It soon expanded its focus to include all immigrant communities, delivering trustworthy news and community-driven content. TVC serves as a platform for diverse groups such as Turks, Kurds, Alevis, Armenians, and others, offering them a voice. Dedicated to upholding human rights, equality, and justice, TVC covers key issues like immigration, employment, and culture, reaching audiences across Canada and internationally via YouTube and social media. Since the passing of her husband from cancer in 2019, TVC has also been Cakır’s primary source of income, supporting her three children, now ages 19, 13, and nine.
The issue
Meta (formerly Facebook) banned news in Canada in 2023 August in response to the Online News Act (Bill C-18), a Canadian law that requires tech platforms like Meta and Google to pay news publishers for content that appears on their platforms.
Meta’s stance is that news content makes up only a small fraction of the content on their platforms, and they argue that the company should not be required to pay for links or snippets shared by users. In response to the law, Meta decided to block news content for Canadian users, preventing the sharing of local and international news on its platforms in Canada.
Our client, Turkish Voice of Canada (TVC), which produces interviews, news analysis, and entertainment content for Turkish-speaking communities in Canada, has been blocked from sharing content on its Instagram and Facebook pages since August 2023. While the audience outside Canada can still view the content, those living in Canada cannot.
Challenges
Turkish Voice of Canada faced a significant challenge when Meta blocked her channel from sharing content on Instagram and Facebook. The channel experienced a sevenfold drop in content views and a 50% of drop in daily new followers. With over 14,000 Instagram followers and 11,000 on Facebook, TVC’s engagement dropped drastically, impacting its reach and revenue streams, which were crucial for Cakir, her family, and the Turkish-speaking community in Canada. Despite being a vital source of community news and support, TVC does not qualify as an eligible news business under the government’s criteria. Meta did not respond to questions from even the Toronto Star, a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper, about why TVC was included in the ban. “They silenced a community through this ban,” said Cakir, adding her news coverage focused on crucial information for the integration of Turkish-speaking communities into Canada.
Objectives
When Meta’s news ban hit, Turkish Voice of Canada was faced with a harsh reality—years of effort and a strong community presence on Instagram and Facebook were at risk of disappearing overnight. For Irep Cakir, TVC’s founder, this wasn’t just a matter of losing followers; it meant losing her primary source of income and the platform she’d built to amplify the voices of Turkish-speaking communities in Canada. As her marketing partner, we knew we had to act fast. Our goal was clear: restore TVC’s social media presence, rebuild the community, and ensure TVC could continue reaching its audience with important news and content. But this wasn’t just about numbers; it was about survival—both for Irep and for her community.
Strategy
In the first week after the ban, we tried to remove the censorship by contacting Meta directly through emails. But after receiving no response, we had to pivot. Time was of the essence. If we couldn’t use the old accounts, we’d build new ones. A week after the ban, we launched new Instagram and Facebook accounts under the handle @irepcakir, naming them after TVC’s founder to keep the audience connection intact. The key was to avoid using the website URL on the new accounts, as Meta determined whether an account was a news outlet by reviewing the URL provided by the user. But we didn’t stop there. We kept posting on the old accounts for followers outside of Canada who could still access the content, while actively growing the new ones. Managing four accounts simultaneously without additional costs to TVC, we consistently shared reels, interviews, news updates, and more.
We also developed a creative solution: a banner with the new social media addresses that appeared in every new YouTube video, ensuring TVC’s audience knew where to find them. To take things a step further, we wanted to collaborate with the high-follower accounts in Canada, collaborating with them to spread the word about the Meta ban and create awareness for TVC’s situation. Our goal wasn’t just to replace lost followers; it was to create a stronger, more engaged community that would continue to grow.
Execution
Within a month, our strategy was in full effect. We managed four accounts (two old and two new) simultaneously across Instagram and Facebook. Almost every day, we created and shared reels that explained the ban and encouraged TVC’s audience to follow the new accounts. We collaborated with influencers, and in the process, we managed to build up TVC’s follower count and engagement rate. While we faced obstacles, like Meta’s lack of response and the technical challenges of handling four accounts as we were also not able to see TVC’s old accounts because we were in Canada, we tackled them head-on with consistent posting and strategic collaboration through our business partners outside of Canada.
Results
We launched the new accounts on August 11, 2023, and within just 24 hours, the Instagram reach surpassed 10,000. In less than the first 90 days, the reach skyrocketed to over 110,000, demonstrating rapid growth and strong audience engagement. The results were beyond our expectations. In the first two months alone, the new Instagram account gained over 10,000 followers. Half of the followers from the old accounts moved over to the new ones, and the engagement rate on these new accounts soared past 10%. We not only restored TVC’s social media presence but also strengthened it, ensuring the brand had even more reach and visibility than before. More importantly, we helped Irep regain her connection with her audience, rebuilding a lifeline for both her community and her livelihood.
Conclusion
Our rapid response and strategic execution helped TVC recover from Meta’s news ban, ensuring that the channel remained a vital source of news and information for Turkish-speaking communities in Canada. Beyond just regaining followers, we helped TVC build resilience against future challenges, revamping its website and solidifying its online presence across multiple platforms. In a landscape where many small news outlets struggled to survive the ban, Turkish Voice of Canada not only weathered the storm but emerged stronger, with a renewed focus and an even more engaged audience.
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Founder & Content Creator & Presenter, Broadcast JournalistTurkish Voice of Canada
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Sources: Internal sources, Turkish Voice of Canada‘s YouTube channel and Irep Cakir’s social media platforms. Toronto Star and BBC.
15th September, 2024
Author: Canada Digital Market Inc.
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