Meta has begun testing ways it might follow through with plans to block news content on Facebook and Instagram, should the Online News Act become law in Canada.

Announced late on Thursday, the users included in the tests will be randomized, as will the experience; the exact way Meta identifies news content and restricts sharing may be different from user to user, as the company seeks the most effective way to comply with the Online News Act.

“Product tests are an important step in Meta’s rigorous approach to product development,” the company’s statement said. “They are a common industry practice to make sure the product experience works as expected and are an important part of our commitment to comply with the Online News Act responsibly and transparently.”

The company says the tests will impact “a small percentage of people” that have previously enrolled in product testing with Meta and will “run for several weeks.”

New outlets will continue to have access to their own pages and will be able to share links and post content, but those posts may not be viewable for users within Canada. Outlets will also continue to be able to access Meta’s Business Suite and other ad tools. Meta will use the current language of the Online News Act to identify news outlets, though websites who believe they have been erroneously included in the tests will be able to access a review process.

The Online News Act, which is currently in committee at the Senate, is an effort by legislators to force large tech companies – namely, Google and Meta – to negotiate with news outlets to share revenues generated by online advertising. News outlets have long said that such regulation is needed, as the companies’ control over the ad market has allowed them to command an unfair portion of revenues.

The language of the bill is primarily concerned with platforms that share news with users (such as through Google’s search or Facebook’s news feed) and ads appearing adjacent to this content, as opposed to the companies’ larger ad and audience networks that also command a high share of revenue from ads on an outlet’s own digital properties.

Policy experts told MiC that this is likely for enforceability reasons – attempts to regulate the larger ad networks of Google and Meta would likely involve anti-trust measures and the co-operation of multiple jurisdictions. However, this does also present an opportunity for large tech companies to escape obligations under the Act: when the Bill was first introduced, a spokesperson for the Minister of Canadian Heritage told MiC that, should a platform no longer share news content or links to news on their properties, the bill would no longer apply to them, leaving their broader ad networks un-touched.

Meta’s new test follows previous warnings that it would block news content in Canada should the bill be passed. During a hearing before a Senate committee last month, company executives said they had a team developing ways it could block news content in Canada, as it would have no economic incentive to keep news on its platforms.

It also follows Google running a five-week test of “potential product responses” to the Online News Act earlier this year, which the company said impacted less than 4% of Canadian users.