Weekly News (July 5, 2023)

Compiled by Charnjot Shokar and Fizza Kulvi with Sara Bannerman

McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

(June 28  – July 4, 2023)

Canadian News 

• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] Politics Briefing: Tech giants respond to Bill C-18 by withdrawing access to Canadian news on their platforms (Globe and Mail)
• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] Justin Trudeau criticizes tech giants as heritage minister makes bid to keep Google on board over Bill C-18 (Globe and Mail)
• [ONLINE NEWS ACT/COMPETITION] Postmedia’s merger talks with Toronto Star owner a ‘Hail Mary pass’: expert (CTV)
• [TELECOM POLICY/COMPETITION] CRTC rejects Bell request for expedited process in seeking access to Rogers’s TTC network (Globe and Mail)
• [TELECOM POLICY/COMPETITION] From telecoms to grocers, competition concerns keep bubbling up in federal politics (CBC)
• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] U.S. senator urges Canada to resist pressure from Meta, Google over Bill C-18 (Globe and Mail)
• [TELECOM PATENT] Nokia renews patent licence agreement with Apple, covering 5G and other technologies (CTV)
• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] What Bill C-18 is trying to save might be too far gone (Globe and Mail)
• [ACCESSIBILITY] Future of accessible book, audiobook production in limbo as subsidy winds down (Globe and Mail)
• [PRIVACY] Hackers attacked the Canadian government 2,300,000,000,000 times last year (Toronto Star)
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Canada urgently needs to release its Holocaust-related records (Globe and Mail)
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] A political scandal in Newfoundland gave rise to the country’s most transparent FOI system (Globe and Mail)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] The market’s magnificent seven pose a quandary for investors (Globe and Mail)
• [ONLINE STREAMING ACT] Why I believe in Canadian content (Globe and Mail)
• [CYBERSECURITY/PRIVACY] Canadian cyberspy agency says it disrupted foreign extremist activity (Toronto Star)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Google DeepMind calls for ‘responsible’ approach to AI amid ‘eureka moment’ (Toronto Star)

International News

• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Supreme Court puts first amendment limits on laws banning online threats (New York Times)
• [FREEDOM OF SPEECH] Supreme Court backs web designer opposed to same-sex marriage (New York Times)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] French court says soccer federation can ban headscarves in matches (CBC)
• [CENSORSHIP] Twitter sued Indian government for ‘arbitrarily’ silencing critics. It lost. (Washington Post)
• [CENSORSHIP] Vietnam tells foreign social media to use AI to detect ‘toxic’ content (Reuters)
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Iowa auditor says new law will restrict his office’s access to information (The Independent)
• [TWITTER POLICY] Elon Musk’s Twitter rate limits could undermine new CEO’s efforts to bolster business, ad experts say (New York Post)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Executives urge Europe to rethink its world-leading AI rules (CTV)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Tech group sues Arkansas over law requiring parental OK for minors creating social media accounts (Washington Post)
• [PRIVACY/COPYRIGHT] ChatGPT maker OpenAI faces a lawsuit over how it used people’s data (Washington Post)

(June 28  – July 4, 2023)

Supreme Court of Canada

• Judgments in Leave Applications: “The Supreme Court of Canada has today (June 29) deposited with the Registrar judgments in the following leave applications.”
  • [CRTC/OFFICIAL LANGUAGES] Alliance nationale de l’industrie musicale c. Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes (Fédéral) (Civile) (Autorisation) (40455)  [DISMISSED]
  • [DEFAMATION/BANKRUPTCY] 9424-9356 Québec inc., et al. c. Québécor inc., et al. (Qc) (Civile) (Autorisation) (40206) [DISMISSED]

Canadian Heritage 

• Minister Pablo Rodriguez and Members of Parliament Martin Champoux and Peter Julian will jointly hold a press conference on the Online News Act
• Government of Canada invests in an important project for the Francophone community in British Columbia
• Government of Canada to announce funding for the 2023 North American Indigenous Games in Nova Scotia

Communications Security Establishment 

• Communications Security Establishment releases Annual Report 2022-2023

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission 

• Telecom order 2023-189
  [2023-07-04 11:00:00]
  Streamlined order – The Commission approves, by majority decision, the following tariff application: Bragg Communications Inc., carrying on business as Eastlink, TN 44
• Telecom order 2023-188
  [2023-07-04 11:00:00]
  Streamlined order – The Commission approves the following tariff application: Bell Canada, TN 7669
• Telecom notice of consultation 2023-56-2
  [2023-07-04 11:00:00]
  Notice of hearing – Review of the wholesale high-speed access service framework – New intervention phase – Public record: 1011-NOC2023-0056
• Broadcasting decision 2023-187
  [2023-06-29 11:00:00]
  Radio Beauséjour inc. – Shediac, New Brunswick – Application to change the authorized contours of CJSE-FM 1 Memramcook, a low-power rebroadcasting transmitter of the French-language radio station of CJSE-FM Shediac

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• New blogs offer advice for businesses and individuals on protecting privacy on mobile apps

Google

• Our approach to news regulation

Meta

• How AI Influences What You See on Facebook and Instagram

Senate of Canada

• Planned and Possible Sitting Days: The Senate will not sit during the week of July 4 to 7, 2023. The Senate is adjourned until September 19, 2023. 

House of Commons

• Planned and Possible Sitting Days: the House of Commons will not sit during the week of July 4 to 7, 2023. The House is adjourned until Monday, September 18, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. (EDT).  

CRTC

• Anticipated Releases for the week of July 4 to 7, 2023:
  • Broadcasting Decisions:
    • Applications by various licensees to renew the broadcasting licenses for various radio stations
• Upcoming Hearings
  • Telecom Decisions:
    • Forbearance from the regulation of high-capacity / digital data services interexchange private line services on certain additional routes
      Public record: 8638-S1-01/98
    • Review of the approach to rate setting for wholesale telecommunications services
      Public record: 1011-NOC2020-0131
    • July 6, 2023 – National Capital Region
• To consider the broadcasting applications listed in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2023-129, 2023-129-1
• View hearing documents (2023-129)

• Open Proceedings
  • CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
  • CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Public Consultations: 

                Canadian Heritage:

• Order Issuing Directions to the CRTC (Sustainable and Equitable Broadcasting Regulatory Framework) 45-day consultation (until July 25, 2023)

CRTC: 

• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
  • Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2023-138: The Path Forward: Deadline for submission of interventions: July 11, 2023; replies: July 26, 2023 (notice of revised deadlines)
  • Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2023-139: Call for comments – Proposed Regulations for the Registration of Online Streaming Services and Proposed Exemption Order regarding those Regulations: deadline for replies: June 27, 2023; final replies: July 12, 2023
  • Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC  2023-140 – Call for comments – Review of exemption orders and transition from conditions of exemption to conditions of service for broadcasting online undertakings; deadline for replies: June 27, 2023; final replies: July 12, 2023
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings
  • Share your comments on the review of the Broadband fund (start date March 23, 2023 to July 21, 2023); Deadline for submission of interventions: 21 July 2023

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