Weekly Newsletter for April 16, 2024

Weekly News (April 16, 2024)

Compiled by Brad McNeil with Sara Bannerman

McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

(April 10 – 16, 2024)

Canadian News 

• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Trudeau announces AI spending plan to bolster Canadian infrastructure, computing capacity and safety (Globe and Mail) 
• [ONLINE STREAMING ACT] Canada in top three countries for music exports on Spotify, but some hit artists may not qualify as Canadian (Globe and Mail) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Federal government use of AI in hundreds of initiatives revealed by new research database (CBC) 
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Secret Canada wins prestigious FOI award (Secret Canada) 
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Supreme Court won’t hear families’ years-long case over access to Bernardo documents (CBC) 
• [ONLINE HARMS/PLATFORM REGULATION/CONTENT MODERATION] Most Canadians think online harms bill should make porn sites verify users are 18 or older, poll says (Globe and Mail) 
• [MEDIA] Quebecor expanding discount wireless brand Fizz to four provinces (Globe and Mail) 
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] Bell Canada CEO Mirko Bibic defends job cuts in Commons committee testimony (CBC) 
• [CYBERSECURITY] Every day, ‘a little more on track,’ mayor says; Work to restore and secure systems continues after Feb. 25 ransomware attack  (The Hamilton Spectator) 
• [CYBERSECURITY] Hundreds of thousands impacted by fall cyberattack (Penticton Herald) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Some Toronto theaters have been duped by AI-generated reviews. What role will they play in arts marketing moving forward?  (Toronto Star) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DATA BILL] OPINION: Joanna Redden & Fenwick McKelvey: The federal government’s proposed AI legislation misses the mark on protecting Canadians (The Conversation) 
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] OPINION: Maggie MacDonald: Requiring age-verification for porn won’t save children from online harm. But it will invade our privacy (Globe and Mail)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] OPINION: Jaime Watt:  Government bans on social media will only make them more desirable  (Toronto Star) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/HATE SPEECH] OPINION: Brad Bradford:  Time to protect Toronto’s religious and cultural spaces against hate  (Toronto Star) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] OPINION: Joël Blit: Canada’s $2.4-billion artificial intelligence bet: a missed opportunity (Globe and Mail) 

International News

• [PLATFORM REGULATION] X reverses course, tells Brazil court it will comply with rulings (Reuters) 
• [HATE SPEECH/ONLINE HARMS] Scotland’s new hate-speech law ignites culture war far beyond its borders  (Washington Post) 
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Powerful Senator Crafts TikTok Crackdown (Wall Street Journal) 
• [INTERNET POLICY]  FCC makes internet providers lay out fees  (Washington Post) 
• [SURVEILLANCE] Secret Rift Over Data Center Fueled Push to Expand Reach of Surveillance Program (New York Times) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] How Washington Played A.I. Matchmaker (New York Times)  
• [PRIVACY/SURVEILLANCE] The Renewal of Section 702 Becomes Yet Another Defeat for Privacy Advocates  (New York Times) 
• [PRIVACY] Advocate for online privacy has slowed work for years  (Washington Post) 
• [PRIVACY] Indiana limits abortion data for privacy under near-total ban, but some GOP candidates push back (ABC News) 
• [CONTENT MODERATION] Meta’s Oversight Board reviewing company’s handling of AI-created celebrity porn (Globe and Mail) 
• [PRIVACY] Privacy talks are heating up in Congress. Here’s what to watch for.  (Washington Post) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Chatbots’ flaws aren’t stopping tech giants from putting them everywhere (Washington Post) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] A.I. Has a Measurement Problem (New York Times)  
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/PLATFORM REGULATION]  OpenAI prepares for legal battles  (Washington Post) 
• [LAWSUIT/ONLINE HARMS] Wisconsin tribe sues social media companies over suicide rates among Native youth (Wisconsin  Public Radio) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] ‘What we’re seeing is not telehealth’: alarm over doctors using AI and prescribing without seeing patients  (The Guardian) 
• [PRIVACY] OPINION: William P. Barr: The Securities and Exchange Commission Is Watching You (Wall Street Journal) 
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/CONTENT MODERATION] OPINION: Mary Anastasia O’Grady: Elon Musk Resists Brazilian Censorship (Wall Street Journal) 

(April 10 – 16, 2024)

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

• Telecom/Broadcasting orders and decisions from April 10 to 16, 2024 

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• OPC joins international privacy enforcement group 

Google

• Why the California Journalism Preservation Act is putting support of the news ecosystem at risk 
• Our new report on AI’s opportunity for developing countries 

Meta

•  New Tools to Help Protect Against Sextortion and Intimate Image Abuse  

Microsoft

• China tests US voter fault lines and ramps AI content to boost its geopolitical interests 

OpenAI 

• Introducing OpenAI Japan 

Senate of Canada

• The Senate sitting and possible sitting days:  The Senate will sit from April 16 – 18, 2024, with a possible sitting day on April 19, 2024.
  • Bills on the Agenda:
    • Bill C-244: An Act to amend the Copyright Act (diagnosis, maintenance and repair) – At second reading in the Senate  
    • Bill C-294: An Act to amend the Copyright Act (interoperability) – At second reading in the Senate 
    • Bill C-290: An Act to amend the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act and to make a consequential amendment to the Conflict of Interest Act – At secodn reading in the Senate 

House of Commons

• The House of Commons sitting and possible sitting days:  The House of Commons will sit from April 15 – 19, 2024.
  • Bills on the Agenda:
    • Bill C-65: An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act – At second reading in the House of Commons 
  • Meetings:
    • Standing Committee on Industry and Technology (INDU): Bill C-27, An Act to enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act, the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act and the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts: Wednesday, April 17, 2024, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  
    • Standing Committee on Human REsources, Skills and social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA): Implications of Artificial Intelligence Technologies for the Canadian Labour Force: Thursday, April 18, 2024, 8:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.  

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

• Anticipated releases for the week of 15 to 19 April 2024:
  • The CRTC is not planning on issuing any decisions, regulatory policies and reports in the week of 15 to 19 April 2024. This is subject to change without notice.

• Upcoming Consultation
  • Compliance and Enforcement notice of consultation 2024-43-1 [2024-03-04 11:00:00] Call for comments – Proposed conditions of service requiring implementation of the call traceback process by telecommunications service providers providing voice telecommunications services – Changes to deadlines – Public record: 1011-NOC2024-0043: Deadline for submission of replies: April 16, 2024. 
• Upcoming Hearing
  • April 17, 2023 – Whitehorse, Yukon
    Call for comments – Telecommunications in the Far North, Phase II – Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2022-147, 2022-147-1, 2022-147-2, 2022-147-3, 2022-147-4
    View hearing documents (2022-147)
  • May 3, 2023 – Gatineau, Quebec
    To consider the broadcasting applications listed in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2023-6, 2023-6-1, 2023-6-2 View hearing documents (2023-6)
  • May 11, 2023 – National Capital Region
    To consider the broadcasting applications listed in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2023-49, View hearing documents (2023-49)
  • June 28, 2023 – Gatineau, Quebec
    To consider the broadcasting applications listed in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2023-72, View hearing documents (2023-72)
• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Consultations:

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

• Call for comments – Co-development of an Indigenous Broadcasting Policy – July 22, 2024 2024-67

Competition Bureau

• Competition Bureau seeks feedback on artificial intelligence and competition – Feedback can be submitted until May 4, 2024

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