Newsletter: December 15, 2020

Weekly News (December 15, 2020)
Compiled by Emmanuel Appiah with Sara Bannerman
McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

The Communications Governance Discussion Group meets every few weeks by Zoom.  Email organizer Derek Hrynyshyn <derekh@yorku.ca> for details.

(December 8-14, 2020)

Canadian News

• [BROADCAST ACT] The Canadian government’s Bill C-10 has opened the door to serious state regulation of the internet (The Globe and Mail)
• [ONLINE EXPLOITATION] MP to request that Pornhub executives testify before Commons ethics committee ( The Globe and Mail; Similar story also available)
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION/RECONCILIATION] Quebec tables bill to give families of missing Indigenous children access to records (The Toronto Star)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/PROTEST] Crackdown on land protests in 2020 infringes on liberties, future activism: experts (The Toronto Star)
• [PUBLIC BROADCASTING] CRTC says it will allow questions on CBC’s branded content during upcoming regulatory hearings (National Post)
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Federal government purging access-to-information index (The Ottawa Citizen; Similar Article available on the National Post)
• [CYBERSECURITY] Barring Huawei won’t fully protect Canada’s 5G wireless networks, report says (The Globe and Mail)
• [PUBLIC BROADCASTING] Terence Corcoran: CBC’s ‘moral conflicts’; Journalists again show their anti-corporate streak, except when it helps pay their salaries (The National Post)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/LABOUR] Amazon warehouse workers in Canada saw injury rates double. Then COVID hit. Inside a hidden safety crisis (The Toronto Star)
• [BROADCASTING/CONTENT] Classic shows pose issue for broadcasters (The Hamilton Spectator)
• [PRIVACY/WORKPLACE] Howard Levitt: Vaccinations would likely be mandatory for all employees, unless you work from home (Financial Post)
• [PRIVACY] Series of gaps allowed massive Desjardins data breach, privacy watchdog says (The Toronto Star)

International News

• [PLATFORM REGULATION] U.S. court dismisses lawsuit that had challenged social media executive order (Reuters)
• [ANTITRUST/PLATFORM REGULATION] US antitrust siege of tech widens with lawsuits vs Facebook (Associated Press; Similar Story available on Wall Street Journal)
• [ANTITRUST/PLATFORM REGULATION] Facebook faces antitrust allegations over deals for Instagram and WhatsApp (The Guardian)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/JOURNALISM] Australia takes aim at tech giants ( The Standard St. Catherines)
• [PUBLIC BROADCASTING] Ofcom proposes radical shake-up of UK broadcasting (The Guardian)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/CONTENT MODERATION] EU member states, MEPs agree to take terror content down (Associated Press News)
• [DEFAMATION] Lawyer: Trump using ‘desperate’ tactics in defamation suit (The Toronto Star)
• [MISINFORMATION/ONLINE HARASSMENT] Swift backlash for Brazil students targeting misinformation (Associated Press via ABC News)
• [PRIVACY] Google, Amazon fined $200M by French data watchdog ( The Toronto Star)
• [PRIVACY/ADVERTISING] Google, adtech firms hit with fresh EUprivacy complaints (Reuters)
• [PERSONAL DATA] U.S. FTC seeks data on how Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and others use personal data (Reuters)
• [TELECOM REGULATION] Trump nominee takes seat at U.S. telecom regulator (Reuters)
• [ARITFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] EU rights watchdog warns of pitfalls in use of AI (Reuters)
• [PRIVACY] AP Interview: Digital minister says Taiwan to guard privacy ( The Toronto Star/AP)
• [TELECOM] FCC begins process of halting China Telecom U.S. operations (Reuters)
• [HEALTH DATA/VACCINE] The C.D.C.’s call for data on vaccine recipients raises an alarm over privacy (The New York Times)
• [FACIAL RECOGNITION/HUMAN RIGHTS] Huawei worked on several systems to identify ethnicity (The Washington Post)
• [MEDICAL PRIVACY] Medical privacy changes would smooth info sharing in crises (Associated Press via ABC News)
• [VACCINES/INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY] Thomas Cueni: The Risk in Suspending Vaccine Patent Rules (The New York Times)
• [CYBERSECURITY] U.S. government reveals agencies have been hacked (The Toronto Star)
• [SURVEILLANCE/HOUSING] Surveillance technology seen worsening U.S. eviction crisis (Reuters)
• [PRIVACY/HEALTH DATA] Sen. Klobuchar, spooked by Amazon Halo, asks for new health-tracker privacy protections (The Washington Post; Similar Story also available)
• [TRADEMARK] French NGOs fight media company’s trademark on word ‘planet’ (The Toronto Star)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Team USA Backs Allowing Athlete Protests at Olympics ( The Wall Street Journal)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/JOURNALISM] Iran executes exiled journalist who encouraged 2017 protests (Associated Press News)
• [PRIVACY/DATA BROKERAGE] Apple and Google to Stop X-Mode From Collecting Location Data From Users’ Phones (The Wall Street Journal)

(December 8-14, 2020)

Global Affairs

• Two years since Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor arbitrarily detained in China
• Canada’s investments to support equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines

Innovation, Science and Economic Development

• Parliamentary Secretary Ehsassi to announce investment in Canada’s robotics and AI research and development sector

National Film Board

• The 2020–2023 NFB Strategic Plan. New ways of storytelling for new ways of seeing.

House of Commons

• [BROADCASTING REGULATION] C-10 – The Minister of Canadian Heritage – An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts: Second reading (December 11, 2020)

Supreme Court of Canada

• The Supreme Court of Canada announced today that the following appeal was heard:

• • [FREEDOM OF SPEECH] Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Canada St. Mary Cathedral, et al. v. Teshome Aga, et al. (Ont.) (Civil) (By Leave) (39094)

• The Supreme Court of Canada has today deposited with the Registrar judgments in the following leave applications.:
  • [PATENT] Pfizer Canada ULC v. Pharmascience Inc. (F.C.) (Civil) (By Leave) (39150)
  • [DEFAMATION] Noël Ayangma v. SaltWire Network Inc., operating as The Guardian, Barbara McKenna and Ryan Ross (P.E.I.) (Civil) (By Leave) (39296)
  • [PATENT] Syngenta Canada Inc. and Syngenta AG v. Darmar Farms Inc. (Ont.) (Civil) (By Leave) (38915)

• Judgement Reserved: [FREEDOM OF SPEECH] Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Canada St. Mary Cathedral, et al. v. Teshome Aga, et al. (Ont.) (Civil) (By Leave) 39094 (December 10, 2020)

Federal Court of Appeal

• [TRADEMARK] Group III International Ltd. v. Travelway Group International Ltd. – 2020 FCA 210 – 2020-12-09

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• Desjardins breach: Quebec’s Commission d’accès à l’information and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to release results of investigations – Media Advisory
• Combination of weaknesses led to massive data breach at Desjardins
• Statement by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada following an investigation into a data breach at Desjardins – Statement

Copyright Board

• Recently Approved Tariffs: Commercial Radio Reproduction Tariff (2020-2023)- December 12, 2020

Canadian Internet Registration Authority

• CIRA Canadian Shield reaches 100,000 user milestone in only 7 months

Youtube

• Supporting the 2020 U.S. election

Microsoft

• Important steps for customers to protect themselves from recent nation-state cyberattacks
• How differential privacy enhances Microsoft’s privacy and security tools: SmartNoise Early Adopter Acceleration Program Launched
• Microsoft launches Anti-Corruption Technology and Solutions (ACTS)

Twitter

• Expanding our commitment to brand safety
• Crossroads for the Open Internet

Facebook

• Taking Action Against Hackers in Bangladesh and Vietnam
• Data for Good: New Tools to Help Small Businesses and Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Lawsuits Filed by the FTC and the State Attorneys General Are Revisionist History

CRTC

News Releases:

• Telecom order 2020-399
  [2020-12-11 11:00:00]
  Streamlined order – The Commission approves on an interim basis the following tariff applications: CIK Telecom Inc. TN 1; Northwestel Inc. TN 1109 and Ontera, a division of NorthernTel, Limited Partnership TN 148
• Telecom order 2020-398
  [2020-12-11 11:00:00]
  Streamlined order – The Commission approves on an interim basis the following tariff applications: Bell Canada TN 7624; Northwestel Inc. TNs 1108 and 1110; Ontera, a division of NorthernTel, Limited Partnership TN 147 and telMAX, Inc. TN 1
• Telecom decision 2020-397
  [2020-12-11 11:00:00]
  Forbearance from the regulation of high-capacity / digital data services interexchange private line services on certain additional routes – Public record: 8638-S1-01/98
• Broadcasting notice of consultation 2020-396
  [2020-12-09 11:00:00]
  Notice of hearing – 25 February 2021 – Gatineau, Quebec – Deadline for submission of interventions/comments/answers: 27 January 2021

Senate of Canada

• Planned & Possible sitting days this week: December 14-18, 2020

 Canadian House of Commons

• Planned & Possible sitting days this week: No sitting days this week

CRTC

 Open Proceedings

• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Anticipated releases for the week of December 14-18, 2020

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

Broadcasting Decision:

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

• Applications by various licensees to renew the broadcasting licences for various radio stations

Open Public Consultations:

• Creating Canada’s 5th National Action Plan on Open Government (Deadline for replies: December 18, 2020)
• Justice: Modernizing Canada’s Privacy Act – Public Consultation (January 17, 2021)
• Consultation on the Technical and Policy Framework for Licence-Exempt Use in the 6 GHz Band(January 19, 2021)
• CRTC: Share your views and ideas on telecommunications services in Northern Canada: Nov 2, 2020 to Jan 20, 2021