Weekly News (March 1, 2022)

Compiled by Kyle Wyndham-West, Bradley McNeil, 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.

(February 22- February 28, 2022)

Canadian News 

·         [BROADCAST POLICY] Trudeau to ask Canada’s broadcast regulator to review RT’s ‘presence on Canadian airwaves’ (Globe & Mail)

·         [BROADCASTING POLICY] Le ministre Rodriguez préoccupé par la diffusion de la chaîne russe RT au Canada (La Presse)

·         [BROADCASTING POLICY] Russia Today reste en ondes au Canada pour l’instant (Le Devoir)

·         [BROADCAST POLICY] Telus and Shaw reverse decision and ban state-owned Russia Today TV for airing ‘propaganda’ (Vancouver Sun)

·         [CYBERSECURITY] Cyberattaques russes contre le Canada? (Le Devoir)

·         [BROADCAST POLICY] C-11 means more equality for Indigenous broadcasters: CRFC director (The Star)

·         [POLICY] Ontario to legislate $15 minimum wage for gig workers (The Globe and Mail)

·         [PRIVACY] [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] 144 Toronto police officers signed up to use Clearview AI ‘mass surveillance’ tech (The Star)

·         [HATE SPEECH] Toronto editor James Sears convicted of promoting hatred arrested again over alleged breach of parole (The Globe and Mail)

International News

·         [FREEDOM OF SPEECH/CENSORSHIP] Putin cracks down on free speech (The Star)

·         [STATE PROPAGANDA/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] How Russian state media stoked fears online of Ukrainian aggression in the pivotal days before war (The Washington Post)

·         [CYBERSECURITY] In the wake of the Ukraine invasion, Russia’s cyberattacks could go global (The Washington Post)

·         [PLATFORM REGULATION] Trump’s new social media app, Truth Social, appears in App Store (The Washington Post)

·         [MISINFORMATION] These vaccine skeptics are outperforming news outlets on Facebook, Twitter, study finds (The Washington Post)

·         [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] A new road map for reining in social media companies gains steam (The Washington Post)

(February 22- 28, 2021)

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• Joint review of SCIDA disclosures finds general compliance but some areas of concern

Microsoft Blog

• Digital technology and the war in Ukraine

Amazon Blog

• Amazon Sues ‘Fake Review Brokers’ Who Attempt to Profit From Generating Misleading and Fraudulent Reviews

CRTC

News Releases:

• Telecom decision 2022-54
  [2022-02-25 11:00:00]
  CISC Emergency Services Working Group – Consensus letter on handset-based location technology implementation for 9-1-1 in Canada – Suspension of deadlines – Public record: 8621-C12-01/08
• Telecom order 2022-53
  [2022-02-25 11:00:00]
  Bell Canada – National Services Tariff – Introduction of Next Generation 9-1-1 Service retail rate – Public record: 8740-B20-202107862
• Broadcasting regulatory policy 2022-52
  [2022-02-24 11:00:00]
  Renaming of ES1 as MGGTV on the List of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution
• Telecom decision 2022-51
  [2022-02-24 11:00:00]
  Relief for area code complex 204/431 in Manitoba – Public record: 1011-NOC2021-0006
• Telecom decision 2022-50
  [2022-02-24 11:00:00]
  Relief for area code complex 226/519/548 in southwestern Ontario – Public record: 1011-NOC2021-0245
• Telecom order 2022-49
  [2022-02-23 11:00:00]
  Streamlined order – The Commission approves on a final basis the following tariff application: Northwestel Inc., TN 1146
• Telecom order 2022-48
  [2022-02-23 11:00:00]
  Streamlined order – The Commission approves on a final basis the following tariff application: Northwestel Inc., TN 1147
• Telecom order 2022-46
  [2022-02-23 11:00:00]
  Various Companies – Interim approval of various tariff applications
• Telecom order 2022-45
  [2022-02-23 11:00:00]
  Various companies – Interim approval of various tariff applications
• Telecom order 2022-44
  [2022-02-23 11:00:00]
  TBayTel – Interim approval of a tariff application TN 174
• Broadcasting regulatory policy 2022-47
  [2022-02-23 11:00:00]
  Annual Digital Media Survey

Senate of Canada

·         Planned & Possible sitting days this week: The House may sit all week. 

Canadian House of Commons

·         Planned & Possible sitting days this week: The house sits all week

·         CHPC Impact on Local News of Rogers Communications Takeover of Shaw Communications March 2: Meeting Time3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. (EST)

·         ETHI Committee Business Collection and Use of Mobility Data by the Government of Canada March 3: Meeting Time 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. (EST)

CRTC

The CRTC plans to issue the following decisions and/or regulatory policies in the week of 28 February to 4 March 2022. This is subject to change without notice.

Broadcasting Decision:

• Attraction Images Inc.
  Attraction Images Inc. – Program categorization of Big Rig Warriors

Broadcasting Regulatory Policy:

• Amendments to the Exemption Order Respecting Teleshopping Programming Service Undertakings and to the Exemption order respecting still image and low-motion programming service undertakings

Open Proceedings

·         CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings

·         CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Open Public Consultations

Industry Canada

·         Consultation on the Technical and Policy Framework for Radio Local Area Network Devices in the 5850-5895 MHz Frequency Band and for Intelligent Transportation Systems in the 5895-5925 MHz Frequency Band(Closing date for comments: April 29, 2022; Closing date for reply comments: June 3, 2022)

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