Newsletter: September 22, 2020

Weekly News (September 22, 2020)
Compiled by Emmanuel Appiah with Sara Bannerman
McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

(September 15-21, 2020)

Canadian News

• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Action on Facebook coming soon: Heritage Minister (The Montreal Gazette)
• [PRIVACY] B.C. privacy commissioner will hear First Nations complaints about COVID (National Post; Similar story in The Globe and Mail)
• [TRADEMARK] Climate strikers are trying to trademark Erin O’Toole’s ‘Take Back Canada’ slogan (National Observer)
• [BROADCAST REGULATION] $1-billion in Canadian film and TV production ‘at imminent risk’ if Ottawa doesn’t act on COVID-19 insurance, say producers (The Globe and Mail)
• [BROADCAST OWNERSHIP] Popular radio G98.7 FM is about to change ownership hands, and members of the community hope it stays Black-owned (The Toronto Star)
• [BROADBAND POLICY] Support for Elon Musk’s Starlink rural internet project good for Almaguin (The Canadian Press via North Bay Nippissing News)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATIONS] Inside Huawei’s campaign to influence Canadian public opinion (The Globe and Mail)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATION] Telecom executives disagree on what’s driving Rogers’ hostile takeover bid for Cogeco (The Globe and Mail)
• [PRIVACY] Alberta police unions say improving transparency must balance officers’ privacy (The Globe and Mail)
• [MISINFORMATION] Some Canadians say virus overblown (The Hamilton Spectator)
• [CENSORSHIP] Canadian Sikhs cry censorship after India alert (National Post)
• [DATA GOVERNANCE] Opinion: Llana James: Race-based COVID-19 data may be used to discriminate against racialized communities (The Conversation/The Canadian Press)
• [PUBLIC BROADCASTING/COPYRIGHT] Opinion: Colby Cosh: CBC vs. CPC lawsuit takes an odd turn (National Post)
• [INTERNET REGULATION] Opinion: Navneet Alang: Don’t let outsiders run our online social lives (Toronto Star)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/TELECOMMUNICATIONS] Opinion: Diane Francis: China’s global tech war; Comment (The Financial Post)
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Opinion: Tiffany Gooch: There is no excuse for Doug Ford suppressing mandate letters to ministers  (The Toronto Star)

International News

• [PRIVACY/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Trump to ban US downloads of TikTok and WeChat (The Guardian)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE/PRIVACY] Federal court issues preliminary injunction halting administration’s ban of Chinese app WeChat (The Washington Post)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE/PRIVACY] TikTok Deal Raises Ownership Questions (The Wall Street Journal)
• [INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY/TARIFFS] WTO finds Washington broke trade rules by putting tariffs on China; ruling angers U.S. (Reuters)
• [CENSORSHIP/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Google faces Congress again, this time with Republicans taking lead (The Washington Post)
• [PRIVACY] Google Faces $3 Billion U.K. Suit Over Use of Children’s Data (BNN Bloomberg)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Lawmakers Issue Call for National AI Strategy; Reps (The Wall Street Journal)
• [PERSONAL INFORMATION/SURVEILLANCE] Trump ‘associates’ offered Assange pardon in return for emails source, court hears (The Guardian)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATION] US Pentagon Opens Door to 5G Network Shared With Civilian Cellphones (The Wall Street Journal)
• [COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK] Banksy trademark ‘at risk’ after street artist loses legal battle (The Guardian)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION Mexican intellectuals claim freedom of expression threatened (The Toronto Star)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/JOURNALISM] Vile social media attacks target Pakistani women journalists (The Associated Press)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Police Departments Turn to AI-Based Intervention System for Officer Misconduct (The Wall Street Journal)
• [MISINFORMATION/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Twitter Expects Changes to Misinformation Labels Through Election (The Wall Street Journal)
• [BROADBAND REGULATION/COVID-19] Pandemic Broadband Speeds Are Faster, but Insufficient for Some (The Wall Street Journal)

(September 15-21, 2020)

Federal Court of Appeal

• [PATENT] Nova Chemicals Corporation v. Dow Chemicals Company 2020 FCA 141 – 2020-09-15

Federal Court of Canada

• [DATA PROTECTION] Janssen Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General) 2020 FC 904 – 2020-09-18

Democratic Institutions

• Statement by the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of International Development on International Day of Democracy

Global Affairs Canada

• Joint statement on Internet shutdowns in Belarus 
• Human rights violations allegations in Belarus to be investigated 

Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada

• Minister Ng announces more support for women entrepreneurs in the tech sector in southern Ontario
• Rural British Columbia to benefit from improved connectivity

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• New resources to help businesses protect personal information and address breaches

Youtube

• A look at how we treat educational, documentary, scientific, and artistic content on YouTube

Microsoft

• Our interconnected world requires collective action
• Recovering from the pandemic: what policymakers and experts are saying

Twitter

• Improved Account Security during the 2020 US Election
• Helping you find accurate US Election News and Information

Facebook

• Celebrating National Voter Registration Day With a Week of Action

CRTC

News Releases:

• Telecom order 2020-337
  [2020-09-17 11:00:00]
  Streamlined order – The Commission approves on an interim basis the following tariff application: Northwestel Inc. TN 1096
• Broadcasting notice of consultation 2020-336
  [2020-09-17 11:00:00]
  Call for comments on an application by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters requesting regulatory relief for Canadian broadcasters in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Broadcasting decision 2020-335
  [2020-09-16 11:00:00]
  APPROVED – Aujourd’hui l’Espoir – Brownsburg-Chatham, Quebec – Application for a broadcasting licence to operate a French-language specialty (Christian music) FM radio station in Brownsburg-Chatham
• Compliance and Enforcement and Telecom decision 2019-402-2
  [2020-09-15 11:00:00]
  Rogers Communications Canada Inc. – Request for a nine-month postponement of STIR/SHAKEN implementation – Public record: 8621-C12-01/08 and 8665-C12-201507576
• Broadcasting decision 2020-334
  [2020-09-15 11:00:00]
  DENIED – Utilities Consumers’ Group Society – Whitehorse, Yukon – Application for a broadcasting licence to operate a full power protected English-language community FM radio station in Whitehorse

Supreme Court of Canada

• The Supreme Court of Canada announced today that judgment in the following leave applications will be delivered at 9:45 a.m. EDT on Thursday, September 24, 2020. This list is subject to change.
  • [INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY] Apotex Inc., et al. v. ADIR, et al. (F.C.) (Civil) (By Leave) (39172)
  • [INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY/COPYRIGHT] Geophysical Service Incorporated v. Falkland Oil and Gas Limited, et al. (Alta.) (Civil) (By Leave) (39093)

Senate of Canada

• Planned & Possible sitting days this week: The second session of the 43^rd Parliament is set to begin on September 23-25, 2020.

Canadian House of Commons

• Planned & Possible sitting days this week: The second session of the 43^rd Parliament is scheduled to open at 2:00pm., on September 23, 2020.

Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada

• [EVENT] Right to Know Week (September 28-October 4, 2020)

 CRTC

Open Proceedings

• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Anticipated releases for the week of September 21-25, 2020

The CRTC plans to issue the following decisions, regulatory policies and reports in the coming week. This list may be incomplete and is subject to change without notice.

            Broadcasting Decisions:

Decisions relating to the following applications considered under the Commission’s Part 1 process:

• Blackgold Boradcasting Inc.
  CJLD-FM Leduc – Technical changes
  Public record: 2020-0371-3

 Open Public Consultations:

• Political Communications in Federal Elections (revised deadline: September 25, 2020)
• Centre for Gender, Diveristy and Inclusion Statistics (September 30, 2020)
• Join the discussion: Help shape Canada’s accessibility standards (September 30, 2020)