Yeah it’s a shakedown. I don’t see them getting any money out of Facebook though. I actually think Facebook is a better experience for users without news.
I'm not sure if this is what you meant but just in case, from the article: "Meta [...] ended its talks with the government last summer and stopped distributing Canadian news on Facebook and Instagram".
Facebook, all Meta properties no longer allow sharing anything considered news in Canada. If you put in a link to a news site it will be blocked. At one point they were event blocking news satire. People sharing news now will drop in an image instead of a link. Much less useful.
I think news sharing on Facebook mainly leads to outrage spirals and toxic engagement. That’s why I say the platform is better off without it. I’m disappointed that people have been able to circumvent the block with screenshots though.