Weekly News (April 18, 2023)

Compiled by Brad McNeil with Sara Bannerman  and Fenwick McKelvey

McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

(April 12 – April 17, 2023)

Canadian News 

• [PRIVACY/PLATFORM REGULATION] Federal Court sides with Facebook in privacy case tied to Cambridge Analytica affair  (National Post) 
• [PUBLIC BROADCASTING] Poilievre’s pitch to defund CBC, keep French services would require change in law (CBC) 
• [PUBLIC BROADCASTING] Elon Musk changes CBC’s label to ‘69% government funded’ after broadcaster announces Twitter pause (Toronto Star) 
• [PUBLIC BROADCASTING/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Why Elon Musk’s labels should have CBC on the edge of its seat (Toronto Star) 
• [ONLINE STREAMING BILL/ONLINE NEWS BILL] Fund for taking part in C-11 and C-18 hearings says it’s going broke, may close (The Globe and Mail) 
• [ONLINE STREAMING BILL] Indigenous Screen Office on edge of ‘funding cliff’ after being excluded from federal budget  (The Globe and Mail) 
• [ONLINE STREAMING BILL] Bill C-11 will create ‘surge’ in Canadian TV shows, say internal government memos (The Globe and Mail) 
• [ONLINE STREAMING BILL] Liberals’ controversial online streaming bill could soon be law. Here’s what to expect  (National Post) 
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY] Amid high phone bills, telecom experts call for structural change, regulatory reform  (Toronto Star) 
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY] What does Rogers’ TTC cellphone deal mean for commuters using Bell or Telus? (Toronto Star) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/PRIVACY] How will Canada regulate AI? Ottawa will figure it out later (The Globe and Mail)
• [CYBERSECURITY] Pro-Russian cyberattacks strike at PMO, Senate websites (The Globe and Mail) 
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS/THEFT] Bell files suit over alleged theft of copper from telecom networks (The Globe and Mail) 
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION/POLICING/RACIAL DATA] Quebec police chiefs balk at releasing race-based data on police stops (The Globe and Mail)  
• [ELECTIONS/DISINFORMATION] Grassroots fact-checking or illegal advertising? City probes websites targeting Toronto mayoral hopefuls (Toronto Star) 
• [CONTENT MODERATION/PLATFORM REGULATION] We can build better, fairer algorithms in a world of angry bias – so why aren’t we? (The Globe and Mail) 
• [ONLINE STREAMING BILL] OPINION: Michael Geist: The Senate should stick to its guns on Bill C-11 (The Globe and Mail) 
• [ONLINE STREAMING BILL] OPINION: Tristin Hopper: ‘The people need to be controlled’: Inside the thoughts of the online streaming bill C-11  (National Post) 
• [ONLINE STREAMING BILL] OPINION: Jamie Sarkonak: The Liberal undemocratic plan to let bureaucrats make law on the fly  (National Post) 
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY/PUBLIC BROADCASTING]] OPINION: Colby Cosh: CBC editorial independence is a lie  (National Post) 
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY] OPINION: David Olive: Rogers-Shaw fallout: Ottawa needs to legislate cuts to Canada’s sky-high telecom rates (Toronto Star) 
• [PUBLIC BROADCASTING/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] OPINION: Susan Delacourt: Pierre Poilievre’s solution for a ‘broken’ Canada is to break more things — including the CBC (Toronto Star) 
• [PUBLIC BROADCASTING] OPINION: Bruce Arthur: Why CBC isn’t the enemy — no matter what Pierre Poilievre and Elon Musk may think (Toronto Star) 

International News

• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/PLATFORM REGULATION] European privacy watchdog creates ChatGPT task force (Reuters) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] US Senate leader Schumer calls for AI rules as ChatGPT surges in popularity (Reuters) 
• [DEFAMATION] Judge Imposes Sanction on Fox for Withholding Evidence in Defamation Case (The New York Times) 
• [DISINFORMATION/BROADCAST LAWSUIT] Fox shareholder sues Rupert Murdoch, other directors over 2020 election coverage (Reuters) 
• [DEFAMATION]Dominion Voting Systems vs. Fox News: What you need to know about the U.S. election defamation lawsuit (The Globe and Mail)
• [DEFAMATION] The high stakes of Dominion v. Fox (The Washington Post) 
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/PRIVACY] A Plan to Ban TikTok in Montana Is a Preview for the Rest of the Country (The New York Times) 
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/PRIVACY] House GOP Subpoenas FTC for Twitter Investigation Documents (The Wall Street Journal) 
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/PRIVACY] WhatsApp and other messaging apps oppose UK’s move on encryption (Reuters) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Australia urges U.S. to drop espionage case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (The Globe and Mail) 
• [PRIVACY/LEAKS/ACCESS TO INFORMATION] A new kind of leaker: Spilling state secrets to impress online buddies  (The Washington Post) 
• [PRIVACY/LEAKS/CONTENT MODERATION] An Online Meme Group Is at the Center of Uproar Over Leaked Military Secrets (The New York Times) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Russian Court Upholds WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich’s Detention (The Wall Street Journal) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] At Stanford Law School, the Dean Takes a Stand for Free Speech. Will It Work? (The New York Times) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Book Ban Battle Won’t Close Texas County Libraries (The New York Times) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY] Who Owns a Song Created by A.I.? (The New York Times) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/POLICING] Security Robots. DigiDog. GPS Launchers. Welcome to New York. (The New York Times) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/MISINFORMATION] ChatGPT invented a harassment scandal but named a real professor in it (The Washington Post) 
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Russians boasted that just 1% of fake social profiles are caught, leak shows (The Washington Post) 
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE/PRIVACY]A Guide to Freeing Your Social Feeds From Annoying Algorithms (The Wall Street Journal) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] OPINION: David French: The Moral Center Is Fighting Back on Elite College Campuses (The New York Times) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/PERSONAL INFORMATION] The danger of criticizing the king in López Obrador’s Mexico (The Washington Post) 
• [DEFAMATION] OPINION: Jeff Kosseff: Finding Fox News Liable Will Be Hard, and That’s a Good Thing (The New York Times) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] OPINION: James Freeman: s Biden About to Make a Big A.I. Mistake? (The Wall Street Journal) 

(April 12 – April 17, 2023)

Federal Court 

• Facebook, Inc. v Canada (Privacy Commissioner) (April 13, 2023 – File number: T-473-20) 

Federal Court of Appeal 

• Telus Communications Inc. v. Federation of Canadian Municipalities (April 13, 2023 – File number:  A-217-21) 

CRTC

• Broadcasting Decision
  • Broadcasting decision 2023-105 [2023-04-17 11:00:00] Stingray Group Inc. – Across Canada – Application for a broadcasting licence to operate Stingray HITS, a national English-language discretionary service
• Telecom Decision
  • Telecom decision 2023-104 [2023-04-17 11:00:00] Updates to the Competitive Local Exchange Carrier Model Tariff
• Telecom Order
  • Telecom order 2023-103 [2023-04-17 11:00:00 Broadband Fund Payment Order – Approval of Claim Forms – March 2023
  • Telecom order 2023-102 [2023-04-06 11:00:00] Streamlined order – The Commission approves on an interim basis the following tariff application: Northwestel Inc., TN 1179

Communications Security Establishment Canada

• Statement from the Minister of National Defence – Cyber Threats to Critical Infrastructure 
• Technical briefing by the Communications Security Establishment Canadian Centre for Cyber Security on threats to Canada’s critical infrastructure 

Global Affairs Canada

• Canada deplores guilty verdict for Vladimir Kara-Murza

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

• Governments of Canada and Switzerland sign joint statement on science, technology and innovation 

Twitter

• Freedom of Speech, Not Reach: An update on our enforcement philosophy 

Supreme Court of Canada

• Scheduled Hearing:
  • [FREEDOM OF INFORMATION] April 18, 2023 at 9:30 a.m.: Attorney General for Ontario v. Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, et al. (Ontario) (Civil) (By Leave) 40078  

Senate of Canada

• Planned and Possible Sitting Days: The Senate will sit from April 18 to April 20, 2023, with possible sitting days on April 21 and 24, 2023.
  • Bills on the Agenda:
    • Bill C-18: An Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada: At second reading in the Senate  
    • S-210: An Act to restrict young persons’ online access to sexually explicit material: At third reading in the Senate  

House of Commons

• Planned and Possible Sitting Days: The House of Commons will sit from April 18 to 21, 2023, and also on April 24, 2023.
  • Committee Meetings:
    • Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI): April 18, 2023, 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. – Topic: Access to Information and Privacy System   
    • Procedure and House Affairs (PROC): April 18, 2023, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. – Topic: Foreign Election Interference   
    • Procedure and House Affairs (PROC): Tuesday, April 18, 2023, 6:30 p.m. tp 8:30 p.m. – Topic: Foreign Election Interference 
    • Canadian Heritage (CHPC): Thursday April 20, 2023, 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. – Topic: Activities of Google in reaction to Bill C-18  

CRTC

• Anticipated releases for the week of 17 to 21 April 2023: The CRTC plans to issue the following decisions and/or regulatory policies in the week of 17 to 21 April 2023. This is subject to change without notice.

• Broadcasting Decisions: 
  • Applications by various licensees to renew the broadcasting licences for various radio stations
  • Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp.
    Across Canada
    Addition of i24NEWS to the List of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution
    Public record: 2023-0023-4
  • Stingray Group Inc.
    Across Canada
    Stingray HITS – Licensing of a discretionary service
    Public record: 2022-0321-4
  • Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta
    Edmonton and Fort McMurray, Alberta
    CIWE-FM Edmonton – New transmitter in Fort McMurray
    Public record: 2022-0820-7
• Broadcasting Regulatory Policy:
  • Renaming of BBC World News as BBC News on the List of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution
• Telecom Decision:
  • Updates to the Competitive Local Exchange Carrier Model Tariff

Open Proceedings

• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Public Consultations:

• CRTC
  • Open:Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2023-39 – Call for comments – Development of a regulatory framework to improve network reliability and resiliency – Mandatory notification and reporting about major telecommunications service outages  
  • Open: Share your comments on the review of the Broadband fund (start date March 23, 2023 to July 21, 2023) 
• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
  • Open:Strategic Intellectual Property Program Review (November 15, 2022 to April 30, 2023) 
  • Planned: Consultation on CIPO’s 2023-2024 client service standards (March 1, 2023 to March 31, 2023) 
• Statistics Canada 
  • Open:Visible minority concept consultative engagement (October 11, 2022 to June 30, 2023) 
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada 
  • Planned: Request for Proposal for Facial Recognition Software Service Contract (Maintenance) 

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

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