Weekly News (April 20, 2022)

Compiled by Sara Bannerman, Meaghan Wester, and Nick Gertler with 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.

(April 12- April 19, 2022)

 Canadian News 

• [TELECOM POLICY] Feds decline to intervene in CRTC ruling forcing national wireless carriers to sell access to regional competitors (Globe & Mail)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION]  Réguler Internet, prise deux pour Ottawa (Le Devoir)
• [DEFAMATION] Quebec rights commission drops discrimination cases after Supreme Court’s Ward ruling (CP/Winnipeg Free Press)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/ONLINE NEWS] Former CRTC leaders say regulator not equipped to oversee Online News Act (Globe & Mail)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/ONLINE NEWS] Le CRTC obtient 8,5 millions pour élaborer un régime réglementaire (La Presse)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/ONLINE NEWS] Australia’s small news publishers have been shut out of deals for big tech money. Could the same thing happen in Canada? (Toronto Star)
• [PRIVACY/PRESS FREEDOM] Former Alberta justice minister had contract with fixer, but denies seeking reporter’s phone logs (Globe & Mail)
• [CYBER SECURITY/PRIVACY] Cyberbreach at Rideau Hall was ‘sophisticated’ intrusion, internal documents reveal 
• (CP/CBC) / Un piratage «sophistiqué» frappe Rideau Hall (Le Devoir)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Russia’s state media outlet RT is embracing Canadian video site Rumble (Globe & Mail)
• [PRIVACY / POLITICAL COMMUNICATION] Ontario MPP Hillier should be censured again: report; Already banned from legislature (National Post)
• [CULTURAL POLICY] Hollywood, foreign film productions reach record high in Canada in COVID’s first year (Toronto Star)
• [CYBERSECURITY/DISINFORMATION/INFORMATION WARFARE] Russians target Canada’s skeptics (National Post)
• [CYBERSECURITY] Fuite de données liées à des candidatures pour la fonction publique québécoise (Le Devoir)
• [BROADCAST/NEWS/ONLINE HARMS] OPINION: Coyne: What a tangled Web the Trudeau government is weaving (Globe & Mail)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/ONLINE NEWS] OPINION: Grueskin: Canada can learn from Australia’s news media deal with Big Tech (Calgary Herald)
• [HOLOCAUST DENIAL] OPINION: Selley: Holocaust denial ban likely to be pointless (National Post)
• [DATA STRATEGY] OPINION: Araya and Mavinkurve: Data is a precious resource and Canada needs to treat it as such (Toronto Star)

International News

• [PRIVACY] The debate over a privacy bill is inching forward on Capitol Hill (Washington Post)
• [PRIVACY] FTC Chair Lina Khan calls for a paradigm shift on data privacy (Washington Post)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Elon Musk would open up Twitter’s algorithms. Regulators may beat him to it (Washington Post)
• [ANTITRUST/PRIVACY] Apple’s Tim Cook Warns Proposed Antitrust Laws Will Leave Users With Less Choice for Privacy (Wall Street Journal)
• [PRIVACY/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Apple and Microsoft executives lay out dueling policy visions for Washington (Washington Post)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/CENSORSHIP] Russian court says appeal launched against ban on Meta for “extremism” – Interfax (Reuters)
• [FACE RECOGNITION] House lawmakers launch investigation of face-scan contractor ID.me (Washington Post)
• [FACE RECOGNITION] Ukraine is scanning faces of dead Russians, then contacting the mothers (Washington Post)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE / DISINFORMATION] Facebook ‘lacks willpower’ to tackle misinformation in Africa (The Guardian)
• [CYBERSECURITY] Catalan leaders targeted using NSO spyware, say cybersecurity experts (The Guardian)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Analysis: Twitter exploring a sale would make free speech an afterthought (Reuters)
• [PRIVACY] You agreed to what? Tax sites want your data for more than filing (Washington Post)
• [COPYRIGHT] When ‘Ben-Hur’ went to the Supreme Court and changed Hollywood forever (Washington Post)

(April 13 – April 19, 2022)

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

• Order in Council concerning  Telecom Regulatory Policy Decision CRTC 2021-130
• Governments of Canada and Ontario announce more than $56 million in new funding to bring high-speed Internet access to thousands of more households
• Response by the Government of Canada to Data On Tap Inc.’s CRTC petition 

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• Op-ed: The evolution of privacy protection and the case for legislative reform

Health Canada

• Statement from Minister of Health on the Coming-into-Force of the Regulations Amending the Patented Medicines Regulations

Twitter

• Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility Q1 2022: Our Global Approach

Senate of Canada

• The Senate resumes sitting Monday, April 25
• Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology
  • April 27, 2022, 4:00 PM ET: Bill S-208, An Act respecting the Declaration on the Essential Role of Artists and Creative Expression in Canada
• Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications
  • Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 6:30 PM ET: Study the impacts of climate change on critical infrastructure in the transportation and communications sectors and the consequential impacts on their interdependencies

House of Commons

• The House resumes sitting Monday, April 25
• Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI)
  • April 25, 2022, 11 AM EDT: Collection and Use of Mobility Data by the Government of Canada
• Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE)
  • April 25, 2022, 11 AM EDT: Vaccine Equity and Intellectual Property Rights

CRTC

The CRTC is not planning on issuing any decisions, regulatory policies and reports in the week of 19 to 22 April 2022. This is subject to change without notice.

Upcoming hearings

• May 12, 2022: Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2022-62 (broadcasting licence application)

Open Proceedings

• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings 
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Public consultations

• Stakeholder engagement on fair revenue sharing between digital platforms and news media: Closed Consultation 
• Canadian Intellectual Property Office fee adjustment (Open – Accepting Input)
• Proposed requirements respecting police record checks for individuals involved in the provision of services governed by the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 and the Intercountry Adoption Act, 1998.

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