Newsletter: March 1, 2022

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

(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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