Listeners to two of Windsor-Essex's more popular radio stations are again able to connect via Facebook and Instagram.
The Meta accounts for both Mix 96.7 FM, and Windsor's Country 95.9/92.7 FM, each owned by Blackburn Media, are back online after the social media giant blocked the three Windsor-Essex stations and the news division, WindsorNewsToday.ca, from its Canadian platforms last year.
Meta recently agreed to relax its restrictions on radio station programming, allowing some, but not all, Canadian stations to return to Facebook and Instagram.
Mix 96.7's afternoon host and program manager, "Phat" Matt Franklin, said he's happy to have those platforms back.
"It feels great," said Franklin. "We love engaging and interacting with our listeners on our socials, especially Facebook."
Content from the websites of both stations, sister station Cool-FM 100.7, and WindsorNewsToday.ca, were blocked by Meta from showing up on Canadian news feeds in July 2023, after the federal government passed Bill C-18, the Online News Act.
Supporters of the Act said that it would help protect Canadian journalism by leveling the playing field between established Canadian news agencies and the big tech companies, requiring tech companies to pay news organizations to carry their product. Those favouring the Act also said it would weed out politically-motivated "news" sites and reduce the spread of misinformation.
Critics of the Act called it a form of censorship, and that it did not take into account the presence of artificial intelligence (AI) in the media industry.
Franklin said removing the stations from Facebook and Instagram only did more harm than good.
"It's just taken away from them [the listeners] another way for them to connect with us and engage with us on a daily basis," said Franklin. "We still do that over the phones and on location, but hadn't been able to do that on our socials."