Newsletter: August 25, 2020

Weekly News (August 25, 2020)
Compiled by Emmanuel Appiah with Sara Bannerman
McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

(August 18-August 24, 2020)

Canadian News

• [PERSONAL INFORMATION/STREET CHECKS Quebec issues provincewide street check guidelines; rights groups raise concerns (The Canadian Press via the Global News

• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATION/BROADBAND]  Virus hands telecommunications firms a win (Bloomberg)

• [PERSONAL INFORMATION/ COVID-19 DATA] ‘Irrational’: Mayor dismisses concerns about data access (The Hamilton Spectator)

• [PRIVACY] Canada’s privacy laws are pathetically lacking in teeth (The Financial Post)

• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Grabher gets appeal date in fight over revocation of personalized licence plate (The Canadian Press via the Global News)

• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATION/BROADBAND]  Ultra fast gig internet project seen as key to economic activity (The Canadian Press via Yahoo News)

• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Opposition parties decry black ink in WE documents, allege continuing coverup (National Post)

International News

•    [PRIVACY] Facebook pushes for data portability legislation ahead of FTC hearing (Reuters)

• [PRIVACY/FACIAL RECOGNITION] Facebook wins preliminary approval to settle facial recognition lawsuit (Reuters)

• [PERSONAL INFORMATION/DATA BREACH] U.S. charges former Uber security chief with covering up massive 2016 hacking (Reuters)

• [ANTITRUST/BIG TECH] Kamala Harris And Big Tech: Friendly Ties, And Hesitancy To Regulate (The New York Times)

• [ FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/NATIONAL SECURITY] Hong Kong court blocks release of first person charged under new security law  (Reuters)

• [PRIVACY/BREACH] EU regulators wrangle over Twitter data privacy penalty (The Washington Post)

• [DEFAMATION/FREEDOM OF THE PRESS] New York Times shreds Trump campaign lawsuit over Russia op-ed (The Washington Post)

• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/CENSORSHIP] A Lawyer’s Tweets Put India’s Supreme Court on Trial and Him at Risk of Imprisonment (The New York Times)

• [PRIVACY] Massachusetts Attorney General Creates Unit to Police Data Privacy and Security Abuses (The Wall Street Journal)

• [PERSONAL INFORMATION/US-CHINA RELATIONS] TikTok Sues U.S. Government Over Trump Ban (The New York Times)

• [PERSONAL INFORMATION/SURVEILLANCE] Pentagon Report Finds Reconnaissance Planes Didn’t Spy on Protesters (The New York Times)

• [PRIVACY/ANTITRUST] House lawmakers use Big Tech hearing for fundraising push (The Washington Post)

• [PRIVACY/SURVEILLANCE] Barr ‘vehemently opposed’ to pardoning Snowden (The Associated Press via The Hamilton Spectator)

• [PERSONAL INFORMATION/PRIVACY REGULATION] SEC Boosting Privacy for Big Market-Surveillance Database (The Wall Street Journal)

• [PERSONAL INFORMATION/US-CHINA RELATIONS] Facebook CEO Raised Alarm About TikTok in Washington (The Wall Street Journal)

• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Facebook blocks group of 1 mln critical of Thai monarchy amid govt pressure (The National Post)

• [CENSORSHIP] Opinion: James Freeman: China is turning American movies into propaganda. Enough is enough. (The Wall Street Journal)

• [PERSONAL INFORMATION/FCC] Tesla seeks approval for sensor that could detect child left in hot cars (Reuters)

(August 18-August 24, 2020)

Competition Bureau

• Competition Bureau launches toolkit to help policymakers strengthen competition in Canada’s economy

The Senate

• Prorogation puts parliament on hold

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• New privacy guidance on the Internet of Things for manufacturers and Canadians

Twitter

• Introducing the new Twitter Transparency Center

Facebook

• Keeping People Safe and Informed About the Coronavirus

Apple

• Apple announces Apple Music radio

Amazon

• Black News Channel now streaming for free on Amazon’s news app

CRTC

News Releases:

• Broadcasting decision 2020-284
  [2020-08-21 11:00:00]
  RENEWED – Various licensees – Across Canada – Renewal of the broadcasting licences for the radio stations set out in Appendix 1 to the decision from 1 September 2020 to 28 February 2021 and for the radio stations set out in Appendix 2 to the decision from 1 September 2020 to 31 August 2021
• Broadcasting decision 2020-283
  [2020-08-21 11:00:00]
  APPROVED – Thunder Bay Electronics Limited – Thunder Bay, Ontario – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the English-language conventional television station CKPR-DT Thunder Bay
• Broadcasting decision 2020-282
  [2020-08-20 11:00:00]
  APPROVED – Acadian Communications Ltd. – Cheticamp, Nova Scotia – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the low-power, English-language independent community-based television station CHNE-TV Cheticamp
• Broadcasting decision 2020-281
  [2020-08-20 11:00:00]
  APPROVED – Ethnic Channels Group Limited – Across Canada – Application to add the non-Canadian service RT France to the List of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution.
• Broadcasting decision 2020-280
  [2020-08-20 11:00:00]
  APPROVED – Radio Bas-St-Laurent inc. – Rimouski, Quebec – Application to acquire the assets of the French-language commercial radio station CFYX-FM Rimouski, and its transmitter CFYX-FM-3 Rivière-du-Loup – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the French-language commercial radio station CFYX-FM Rimouski and its transmitter CFYX-FM-3 Rivière-du-Loup

Senate of Canada

• No sitting days this week – Parliament is Prorogued

Canadian House of Commons

• No sitting days this week – Parliament is Prorogued.

 CRTC

Open Proceedings

• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Anticipated releases for the week of August 24-28, 2020

The CRTC plans to issue the following decisions, regulatory policies and reports in the coming week. This list may be incomplete and is subject to change without notice.

            Broadcasting Decisions:

Decisions relating to the following applications considered under the Commission’s Part 1 process:

• Applications by various licensees to renew the broadcasting licences for various television services

Open Public Consultations:

• Call for comments – Accessibility – mobile wireless service plans that meet the needs of Canadians with various disabilities (August 31, 2020 deadline)
• Call for comments – Appropriate network configuration for disaggregated wholesale high-speed access services (September 9, 2020 deadline)