Weekly News (January 17, 2023)

Compiled by Brad McNeil, Kyle Wyndham-West, and Beatrice Sunderland, with Sara Bannerman and Fenwick McKelvey

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.

(January 11 – January 17, 2023)

Canadian News 

• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] Competition Bureau expands its appeal of decision to approve Rogers-Shaw deal (The Globe and Mail)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] Federal committee set to launch new review of Rogers’s takeover of Shaw (The Globe and Mail)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] [BILL C-11) Canada’s online streaming act could discriminate against American companies: U.S. embassy (Global News)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/ONLINE NEWS] Le projet de loi C-11 sur la diffusion en ligne inquiète Washington (Le Devoir)
• [HATE SPEECH] Students charged for antisemitic gestures, symbols at Ottawa high school (CBC) 
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] Uber public policy head wants Ontario to move ‘faster and further’ on gig economy (Toronto Star)
• [ONLINE ADS] [MISINFORMATION] Canadian companies inadvertently finance conspiracy-theory sites through ads placed on Google (The Globe and Mail)
• [HATE SPEECH] [ONLINE HARMS] Social media account with hateful messages about Sir Robert Borden students reported to Ottawa police (Ottawa Citizen)   
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Five-year wait for EDC documents ends with just e-mails about critical news stories (The Globe and Mail)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/BROADCAST REGULATION/FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Un rassemblement s’organise au nom des droits et libertés (Le Devoir)
• [COPYRIGHT/AI] AI tools like ChatGPT and Lensa are spreading like wildfire online, fuelling ethics debates (The Globe and Mail)
• [AI/VARIOUS POLICY DOMAINS] Microsoft’s new AI can mimic any voice after just 3 seconds and some experts are worried (The Toronto Star)
• [PRIVACY] N.S. government says no legal action over social media post about woman’s hospital death (CBC)
• [CBC] OPINION: Will the Liberals save the CBC? (The Record)
• [COPYRIGHT] OPINION: Interminable pause: Government must address harm caused by extension to copyright term (The Toronto Star)
• [COPYRIGHT] OPINION: The artist retains the moral rights to their work, no matter who buys it (The Toronto Star)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] OPINION: Competition Bureau’s fight over Rogers deal is costing taxpayers millions in legal fees (The Globe and Mail)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] [PRIVACY LAW] OPINION: The EU ruled Meta’s Facebook ads violate privacy law – when will Canada follow? (The Globe and Mail)
• [AI] [LAW ENFORCEMENT] OPINION: Toronto police consultation on AI lacks sufficient public engagement (The Toronto Star)

International News

• [PRIVACY] [PLATFORM REGULATION] Explaining Biden’s petition to Congress for making Big Tech ‘accountable’ (The Washington Post)  
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE/CONTENT MODERATION] What the Jan. 6 probe found out about social media, but didn’t report  (The Washington Post)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION / ONLINE NEWS] Why the US journalists’ union is concerned about law forcing big tech to pay for news (Press Gazette)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE/CONTENT MODERATION] Meta’s oversight board calls for more inclusive adult nudity policy (Reuters) 
• [ONLINE HARMS] US school district sues Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok over harm to kids (Malwarebytes Labs)  
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] U.K. says ‘no doubt’ China is failing to uphold commitments to protect Hong Kong’s freedoms (The Globe and Mail)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE / CONTENT MODERATION] Facebook, YouTube remove content backing Brazil attack (Reuters)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE/HATE SPEECH] Since Musk’s takeover, hate speech on Twitter rises in large foreign markets (The Washington Post) 
• [PRIVACY/CYBERSECURITY] TikTok boss meets European officials as scrutiny intensifies (The National Post)
• [PRIVACY/CYBERSECURITY] Mississippi Governor Bans TikTok From Government Devices (US News)
• [PRIVACY/CYBERSECURITY] TikTok Bans Becoming a Part of #Campus #Life (The New York Times) 
• [CENSORSHIP] Free speech groups criticize Florida school for scrapping play (NBC News)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] OPINION: How the Dominion defamation suit against Fox News will test a Delaware court (The Washington Post)

(January 11 – January 17, 2023)

Federal Court of Appeal 

• Notice to the public about the hearing in Commissioner of Competition v. Rogers Communications Inc. et al. (A-286-22)

Canadian Heritage

•  Canadian Heritage funds projects to strengthen Canadians’ resilience against harmful online disinformation

CRTC 

• Joanne Levy to the All Access Conference
• Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2023-1: Revised list of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution – Annual compilation of amendments

Google

• Gonzalez v Google and the future of an open, free and safe internet

Senate of Canada

• There are no planned sitting dates between January 2-27, 2023. The next possible sitting day is January 30, 2023. The next scheduled sitting day is January 31, 2023.

Canadian House of Commons 

• There are no planned meeting dates between January 2-27, 2023. The next sitting date is planned for January 30, 2023.

Supreme Court of Canada

• Scheduled for 9:30 a.m. 2023-01-17: [Privacy] [Police obtaining internet protocol (“IP”) addresses to locate residences] Andrei Bykovets v. His Majesty the King (Alberta) (Criminal) (As of Right) 40269

Federal Court of Appeal 

• January 24, 9:30 a.m: (A-286-22) COMMISSIONER OF COMPETITION v. ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS INC. ET AL. (APP/IP-English) / (APP/EP-Anglais) Statutory Appeal – Competition Tribunal Appel prévu par la loi – Tribunal de la concurrence 

CRTC 

•  Anticipated releases for the week of 16 to 20 January 2023:
  • Broadcasting Decisions:
    • Malayalam Community Radio Inc. London, Ontario New low-power ethnic commercial specialty FM radio station in London Public record: 2021-0853-9.
    • Lawen Met Hopninj Radio Society La Crete, Alberta Low-power, ethnic commercial specialty FM radio station in La Crete Public record: 2022-0106-0.
• Upcoming Public Hearings:
  • January 19, 2023 -National Capital Region. To consider the broadcasting applications listed in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2022-298 View hearing documents (2022-298)

Open Proceedings

• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Public Consultations

• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada:
• Consultation on the future of competition policy in Canada (Nov 17, 2022 to Feb 27, 2023

Have a suggestion? Email Sara Bannerman at banners@mcmaster.ca 

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