Weekly Newsletter: 22 March 2022

Weekly News (March 22, 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. |

(March 15- March 22, 2022)
Canadian News
- [BROADCAST POLICY] CRTC bans Russian state-run broadcaster RT from Canadian airwaves (Toronto Star)
- [BROADCAST POLICY] Le CRTC débranche Russia Today et RT France (La Presse)
- [BROADCASTING POLICY/ INTERNET POLICY] Au CRTC de trancher sur la valeur culturelle de la porno sur Internet (Le Devoir)
- [DISINFORMATION] Melanie Joly vows to tackle ‘virtual battleground’ of Russian disinformation (The National Post)
- [COMPETITION/MEDIA CONCENTRATION] Rogers in talks to find buyer for Shaw wireless (The Star)
- [TELECOMMUNICATION POLICY] Xplornet in talks to acquire Freedom Mobile from Rogers (The Globe and Mail)
- [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] As more firms use AI and one-way videos to hire, one Toronto non-profit is paying short-listed candidates (The Globe and Mail)
- [INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY] The BlackBerry veteran who took on Google and won (The Globe and Mail)
- [CENSORSHIP] OPINION: SOH What is lost when universities self-censor (The Globe and Mail)
- [TELECOMS POLICY] OPINION: KNIGHT Elected MPs said no to the Rogers-Shaw buyout. Will Justin Trudeau dare say yes? (The Star)
International News
- [PLATFORM/ADVERTISING REGULATION] Meta sued by Australian regulator for allegedly ‘misleading’ crypto ads (The Financial Times)
- [BROADCAST REGULATION] UK watchdog revokes Russia Today’s broadcast licence (The Financial Times)
- [PLATFORM REGULATION/ONLINE HARMS] U.K. officials face thorny task of defining ‘legal but harmful’ online speech (Washington Post)
- [PRIVACY/GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE] The government can seize your messages in secret. Lawmakers want you to know if it does. (Washington Post)
- [PLATFORM REGULATION] Elon Musk’s Starlink is keeping Ukrainians online when traditional Internet fails (The Washington Post)
- [PLATFORM REGULATION/ANTITRUST] Tensions in House GOP over how to go after Big Tech are boiling over (Washington Post)
- [HATE SPEECH/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] ‘Kill more’: Facebook fails to detect hate against Rohingya (AP/City News)
- [DEFAMATION] Oligarchs drop defamation lawsuit over Trump-Russia dossier (AP/City News)
- [ENTERTAINMENT] Amazon closes its $8.45 billion acquisition of movie studio MGM (Washington Post)
- [POLICY] OPINION: GRIMES Disney chief’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ drama is a crisis of his own making (Financial Times)

(March 15- March 22, 2022)
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
· MP Jones to announce high-speed Internet project in Labrador
National Film Board
· National Film Board of Canada announces distribution path for Inconvenient Indian
Microsoft Blog
· A new Open Data for Social Impact Framework
CRTC
· Broadcasting decision 2022-71
[2022-03-18 11:00:00]
Leclerc Communication inc. – Québec, Quebec – Application to change the authorized contours of the radio station CFEL-FM Québec
· Broadcasting order 2022-70
[2022-03-17 11:00:00]
Broadcasting Licence Fees – Part I
· Telecom decision 2022-69
[2022-03-17 11:00:00]
Groupe Maskatel LP – Implementation of local competition regarding CoopTel in the exchange of Upton, Quebec – Public record: 8663-M22-202107044
· Telecom notice of consultation 2021-404-1
[2022-03-16 16:00:00]
Call for comments – Hosted call handling solutions for public safety answering points on the next-generation 9-1-1 network – Changes to procedure – Public record: 1011-NOC2021-0404
· Broadcasting decision 2022-68
[2022-03-16 16:00:00]
Review of the authorization to distribute Russia Today (RT) and RT France pursuant to the List of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution
· Broadcasting decision 2022-67
[2022-03-16 16:00:00]
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – Calgary and Harvie Heights, Alberta – Application to change the authorized contours of CBRC-FM Harvie Heights, a rebroadcasting transmitter of the English-language radio station CBR

Supreme Court of Canada
· [WEB SITE BLOCKING/ ONLINE GAMBLING] 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, March 24, 2022. This list is subject to change: 39774 Attorney General of Quebec v. Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (Que.) (Civil) (By Leave)
Senate of Canada
· Planned & Possible sitting days this week: The Senate sits all week.
- Transport and Communications: March 23, 2022 6:30 PM ET
- Study the impacts of climate change on critical infrastructure in the transportation and communications sectors; Witnesses:
- -Susan Hart, Director General, Spectrum Management Operations Branch
- -Marc-André Rochon, Senior Director, Spectrum Management Operations Branch
- -Wen Kwan, Senior Director, Information and Communications Technology Resilience
- -Martin Proulx, Director General, Spectrum and Telecommunications Sector
- -Andre Arbour, Director General, Telecommunications and Internet Policy Branch
Canadian House of Commons
· Planned & Possible sitting days this week: The House meets all week.
- ETHI Use and Impact of Facial Recognition Technology: March 21, 2022 11:00 a.m. – 1:07 p.m. (EDT)
- LANG Priorities and Pressing Issues for the Minister of Official Languages: March 23, 2022 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. (EDT)
CRTC
Anticipated releases for the week of 21 to 25 March 2022
The CRTC plans to issue the following decisions and/or regulatory policies in the week of 21 to 25 March 2022. This is subject to change without notice.
Broadcasting Decisions:
· Cogeco Media Inc.
CILM-FM Saguenay, Chicoutimi – Acquisition of assets
Public record: 2021-0295-3
· Arsenal Média inc.
CHGO-FM Val-d’Or, CHOA-FM Rouyn-Noranda and its transmitters and CJGO-FM La Sarre and its transmitter – Acquisition of assets
Public record: 2021-0297-9
· Corus Radio Inc.
CJKR-FM Winnipeg – Technical changes
Public record: 2022-0009-6
Open Proceedings
· CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
· CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings
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