Weekly News (January 24th, 2023)

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

McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

(January 18-January 24, 2023)

Canadian News 

• [BILL C-11/PLATFORM REGULATION] CRTC wants public input on controversial online streaming bill, says new chair  (National Post)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY] Lowering cellphone bills, reviewing wholesale rates among new CRTC chair’s priorities (The Globe and Mail)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY/INTERNET POLICY] Combien de nouveaux rôles pour le CRTC? (Le Devoir)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] TekSavvy asks CRTC to review legality of Rogers-Vidéotron deal (Financial Post)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS/COMPETITION] Lawyers for Shaw, Rogers argue appeal of ‘pro-competitive’ merger should be rejected in court filings  (Financial Post)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Canadian lawyers accusing Twitter of stifling free speech score first victory in novel lawsuit (National Post)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Trudeau envisage de se tourner vers la Cour suprême (La Presse)
• [PRIVACY] Small Ottawa firm subcontracted ArriveCan app to multinationals, documents reveal (The Globe and Mail)
• [COPYRIGHT/PLATFORM REGULATION] How a woman is using an obscure legal tool to unmask online trolls in court (The Globe and Mail)
• [INNOVATION STRATEGY] How the Liberals’ multibillion-dollar tech plan created ‘chaos’ instead of growth (The Globe and Mail)
• [AI STRATEGY] Canada has leading AI experts. But does Ottawa have the right plan to support an AI industry? (The Globe and Mail)
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION/FREEDOM OF INFORMATION] B.C. saw 80% drop in access-to-information requests from media outlets after bringing in fee, report says (The Globe and Mail)
• [NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY/BILL C-18] Postmedia announces layoff plans, move of 12 Alberta papers to digital-only (Toronto Star)
• [PUBLIC BROADCASTING] OPINION:  Éric Blais: To defund the CBC, Poilievre needs broadcaster to become prime minister (Toronto Star)
• [COPYRIGHT] OPINION: John Degen: Giving artists longer control over their work benefits us all (Toronto Star)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS/CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE] OPINION: Vass Bednar: Why Canada needs a publicly owned cloud  (Financial Post)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS/COMPETITION] OPINION: Konrad Yakabuski: Quebecor’s Freedom Mobile purchase would be no sure victory for competition (The Globe and Mail)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS/COMPETITION] OPINION: Michael Osborne: Competition Bureau is likely to lose its appeal in Rogers-Shaw takeover (The Globe and Mail)

International News

• [PLATFORM REGULATION/FREEDOM OF SPEECH] Supreme Court Puts Off Considering State Laws Curbing Internet Platforms (The New York Times)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] Supreme Court Poised to Reconsider Key Tenets of Online Speech (The New York Times) 
• [FAKE NEWS/PLATFORM REGULATION] India considers banning news identified as ‘fake’ by govt on social media (Reuters) 
• [COPYRIGHT/AI] Art and artificial intelligence collide in landmark legal dispute (Financial Times)
• [PRIVACY/PLATFORM REGULATION] Meta’s WhatsApp fined 5.5 mln euro by lead EU privacy regulator (Reuters) 
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/PRIVACY] European Privacy Regulators Step Up Scrutiny of Business Data Practices  (Wall Street Journal)
• [ONLINE SAFETY/PLATFORM REGULATION] U.K. to Toughen New Social-Media Law, Threatening CEOs With Jail Time (Wall Street Journal)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/CONTENT MODERATION//HATE SPEECH] Meta urged to boost Africa content moderation as contractor quits (Reuters)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/CONTENT MODERATION/HATE SPEECH] Attacks on U.S. Jews and gays accelerate as hate speech grows on Twitter (The Washington Post)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/PRIVACY] Tech ties haunt Biden’s next chief of staff ; Jeff Zients, who served on Facebook’s board, is facing progressive backlash (The Washington Post)
• [PRIVACY/SURVEILLANCE] Little-Known Surveillance Program Captures Money Transfers Between U.S. and More Than 20 Countries (Wall Street Journal) 
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Instagram and Facebook Should Update Nude Photo Rules, Meta Board Says (The New York Times)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/PRIVACY] States are readying a flurry of privacy bills as progress stalls on a federal law (The Washington Post) 
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE]  Months after Russian invasion, Meta is tweaking its content policies  (The Washington Post) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] The freedom to lie? Brazil’s right decries disinformation ‘witch hunt.’  (The Washington Post) 
• [CENSORSHIP / INTERNET GOVERNANCE] For Tibetans, getting information past China’s barriers is harder than ever (The Globe and Mail)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] ChatGPT is now writing legislation. Is this the future? ; The chatbot was used to draft a bill in Massachusetts. (The Washington Post)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] As Deepfakes Flourish, Countries Struggle With Response (The New York Times)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/PRIVACY] OPINION: William P. Barr: Congress Must Halt Big Tech’s Power Grab (Wall Street Journal) 
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/PRIVACY] OPINION: Editorial Board: Don’t ban TikTok. Make it safer for the country. (The Washington Post)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] OPINION: Suzanne Nossel: There’s No Quick Fix for Social Media (Wall Street Journal) 

(January 18-January 24, 2023)

CRTC

• Broadcasting decision:
  • 2023-16 – Findings regarding market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications to serve Joliette – Public record: 1011-NOC2021-0413
• Broadcasting notice of consultation:
  • 2023-17 – Call for applications – Radio station to serve Joliette, Quebec
• Telecom orders:
  • 2023-14 – Determination of costs award with respect to the participation of the First Mile Connectivity Consortium in the proceeding initiated by Telecom Notice of Consultation 2020-367 – File numbers: 1011-NOC2020-0367 and 4754-705
  • 2023-15 – Determination of costs award with respect to the participation of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in the proceeding initiated by Telecom Notice of Consultation 2020-367 – File numbers: 1011-NOC2020-0367 and 4754-706

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• OPC launches 2023 Data Privacy Week campaign

Senate of Canada

• The Senate may sit during January 25-30, 2023

House of Commons

• The House will sit all week from Janury 24-26, and 30-31, 2023.
  • INDU: Proposed acquisition of Shaw by Rogers – committee business. January 25, 2023 2:00pm-4:30pm.

CRTC

• The CRTC plans to issue the following decisions and/or regulatory policies in the week of 23 to 27 January 2023. This is subject to change without notice.
• Broadcasting Decisions:
• Findings regarding market capacity and the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications to serve Joliette
  Public record: 1011-NOC2021-0413
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
  Sudbury and Hearst, Ontario
  CBCS-FM Sudbury, CBON-FM Sudbury and their transmitters – Technical changes
  Public records: 2022-0891-7 and 2022-0892-5

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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