Weekly News (January 4th, 2021)

Compiled by Fizza Kulvi, Meaghan Wester, and Nick Gertler with Sara Bannerman, Fenwick McKelvey, Guillaume Dandurand, Marek Blottière, and Kevin Morin
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 27 – January 3, 2022)

Canadian News 

·         [PRIVACY] Canada’s public health agency admits it tracked 33 million mobile devices during lockdown (National Post)

·         [PLATFORM REGULATION/BROADCASTING POLICY] Trois Ministres À Surveiller En 2022 (Le Journal de Montréal)

·         [PLATFORM REGULATION/BROADCASTING POLICY] La censure par télécommande (Le Devoir)

·         [TELECOMMUNICATION POLICY] MPs question delay in suicide hotline as COVID-19 crisis calls continue (Toronto Star)

·         [ONLINE HARMS] Federal minister’s intervention in Twitter threat incident sets tone for Ottawa’s approach to online harms, advocates say (Toronto Star)

·         [PRESS FREEDOM] Coastal GasLink drops civil lawsuit against journalists (Globe & Mail)

·         [PRIVACY] Snooping spouses beware: Spying could backfire in the courtroom (Globe and Mail)

·         [DATA COLLECTION] Peel police to collect race data during traffic stops amid efforts to address disparities (Toronto Star)

·         [CRYPTOCURRENCY] Federal documents hint at sweeping economic impact from central bank ‘digital loonie’ (Toronto Star)

·         [PRIVACY/COPYRIGHT] Perth County council discusses pros, cons of recorded video of meetings (Toronto Star)

·         [TELECOM POLICY] OPINION: Cole: Canada’s Huawei decision will be a moment of reckoning for the country (Globe and Mail)

·         [COMPETITION ACT] OPINION: Bearnea: Time to modernize Canada’s outdated, toothless Competition Act (Toronto Star)

·         [BROADCASTING POLICY] Opinion: Tremblay: Des voeux pour Netflix et ses pareils (Le Devoir)

 

International News

·         [PRIVACY] Companies Face Growing Challenges to Move Personal Data From Europe (Wall Street Journal)

·         [PLATFORM REGULATION] Russia fines Google £73m over failure to delete ‘illegal’ content (The Guardian)

·         [MISINFORMATION/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Twitter Permanently Suspends Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Account (NYT)

·         [CONTENT MODERATION] TikTok content moderator sues company, alleging trauma from hours reviewing videos of rape and killings (Washington Post)

·         [METAVERSE/CONTENT MODERATION] The Metaverse’s Dark Side: Here Come Harassment and Assaults (NYT)

·         [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] How Discord, Born From an Obscure Game, Became a Social Hub for Young People (NYT)

·         [ONLINE HARMS] How Australia’s far right uses cryptocurrencies to monetise hate online (The Guardian)

·         [PRESS FREEDOM] Hong Kong media outlet Stand News to close after police raid (The Guardian)

·         [INTERNET REGULATION] China’s live-streaming influencers are in Xi’s crosshairs (Washington Post) 

·         [TECHNOLOGY POLICY] China pursues tech ‘self-reliance,’ fueling global unease (CityNews / AP)

·         [CYBERSECURITY] OPINION: Kessler: Inside View: Can Social Media Alter a War? (Wall Street Journal)

(December 27-January 3, 2021)

• No press releases or decisions to report this week

Senate of Canada

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

Canadian House of Commons

• Planned & Possible sitting days this week: No sitting days this week. The House is adjourned until Monday, January 31, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. (EST).

CRTC 

      Open Proceedings

·         CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings

·         CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

There will be no releases by the CRTC from December 23, 2021 to January 7

 

Open Public Consultations

• Enabling the enforceability of the Building Broadband Faster Act Guideline (reply comments due January 17, 2022)
• Consultation about a 3-digit phone number for suicide prevention (reply comments due January 31, 2022)