Weekly Newsletter for February 7, 2023

Posted on February 7, 2023

Weekly News (February 7th, 2023)

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

McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

(February 1 -February 7, 2023)

Canadian News

[BILL C-11/ONLINE STREAMING ACT] Senate passes Liberals’ controversial online streaming act with a dozen amendments (Toronto Star)
[BILL C-11/ONLINE STREAMING ACT] Le Sénat canadien approuve le projet de loi sur la diffusion en ligne (Le Devoir)
[BILL C-11/ONLINE STREAMING ACT] U.S. escalates trade concerns over Canada’s online news and streaming bills (The Globe and Mail)
[BILL C-11/ONLINE STREAMING ACT] British TV platform, BritBox, should not have to promote Canadian programs, say senators (The Globe and Mail)
[BILL C-11/ONLINE STREAMING ACT] Film industry calls on minister to reject key Senate amendments, as Bill C-11 clears Red Chamber (The Globe and Mail)
[BILL C-11/ONLINE STREAMING ACT/FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Government ‘trusts’ CRTC will respect Charter rights with online streaming rules, new chair told (National Post)
[BILL C-11/ONLINE STREAMING ACT] Margaret Atwood on Bill-C11 and why bureaucrats shouldn’t tell authors what to write (The Globe and Mail)
[COMPETITION] Industry Minister seeks commitments on wireless affordability before any approval of deals between Rogers, Shaw and Quebecor (The Globe and Mail)
[COMPETITION] How the Rogers-Shaw takeover deal made it past the Competition Tribunal (The Globe and Mail)
[COMPETITION] Sure Canada’s fourth carrier will be competitive — but not so competitive it will hurt Rogers, CEO says (Toronto Star)
[COPYRIGHT/ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Whose art is this, really? Inside Canadian artists’ fight against AI (Toronto Star)
[PUBLIC BROADCASTING] CBC signals plans to go full streaming, ending traditional TV and radio broadcasts (The Globe and Mail)
[TELECOM/911 OUTAGE] Maritime 911 outage ‘extremely concerning,’ says N.S. cabinet minister (Global News)
[ACCESS TO INFORMATION] B.C. saw 80% drop in access-to-information requests from media outlets after bringing in fee, report says (The Globe and Mail)
[ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Ottawa cites translation, accessibility costs as reason for keeping documents from public (The Globe and Mail)
[BILL C-291/ONLINE HARMS] MPs pass private member’s bill that would change references to ‘child pornography’ in Canada’s laws (The Globe and Mail)
[ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Opinion: Sylvia Stead: More transparency, less secrecy needed (The Globe and Mail)
[MEDIA OWNERSHIP] Opinion: Peter Nowak: The new ‘deadline’ for the Rogers-Shaw deal is as bogus as the last one (The Globe and Mail)
[COMPETITION/MEDIA OWNERSHIP]Opinion: George Addy: Before rewriting the Competition Act, let’s review the Competition Bureau’s performance (Financial Post)
[COMPETITION/MEDIA OWNERSHIP] Opinion: Editorial Board: A call for telecom competition rings for the CRTC’s new boss (The Globe and Mail)
[BILL C-18/ONLINE NEWS ACT] Opinion: Tony Loffreda: David vs. Goliath: A battle for journalism fairness online (Toronto Star)
[BILL C-11/ONLINE STREAMING ACT] Opinion: Sen. David Richards: Liberals’ Bill C-11 is ‘censorship passing as national inclusion’ (The National Post)
[GOVERNMENT AD SPENDING] Opinion: Vass Bednar: Why is the government spending $21-million advertising on social media such as TikTok? (The Globe and Mail)

International News

[PLATFORM REGULATION] Senate Democrat renews fight for Silicon Valley watchdog ; Sen. Michael Bennet assailed tech giants’ alleged corrosive effect on democracy in an address. (The Washington Post)
[PLATFORM REGULATION] A new bill would ban anyone under 16 from using social media ; The proposal is part of a growing wave of similar calls. (The Washington Post)
[PLATFORM REGULATION] In address, Biden will take aim at Silicon Valley and call for more regulation (The Washington Post)
[PLATFORM REGULATION] Republican U.S. lawmaker meets with TikTok, but unpersuaded (Reuters)
[PLATFORM REGULATION] Elon Musk Warned About Incoming EU Social-Media Law (The Wall Street Journal)
[PLATFORM REGULATION/DPRIVACY] TikTok launches charm offensive amid calls to ban the app (The Washington Post)
[PLATFORM REGULATION/PRIVACY] Is TikTok really giving your data to China? (The Washington Post)
[PLATFORM REGULATION/PRIVACY] TikTok: how the west has turned on gen Z’s favourite app (The Guardian)
[PLATFORM REGULATION/PRIVACY] Biden administration urges app store revamp in clash with Google, Apple ; An NTIA report calls for sweeping new rules to restrict the tech giants. (The Washington Post)
[PRIVACY] Americans Flunked This Test on Online Privacy (The New York Times)
PRIVACY/DATA PROTECTION] L’IA au centre des tensions géopolitiques (La Presse)
[LIBEL] Ukraine war ‘opening eyes’ to need to reform England’s libel laws, says lawyer (The Guardian)
[PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Backlash as Twitter limits free API access (The Washington Post)
[CONTENT MODERATION] Meta can be sued in Kenya by ex-content moderator, the country’s court rules (Reuters)
[ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/DISINFORMATION] The People Onscreen Are Fake. The Disinformation Is Real. (The New York Times)
[MEDIA OWNERSHIP] U.S. government is not investigating Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase (The Washington Post)
[PLATFORM REGULATION] Opinion: Glenn S. Gerstell: The Problem With Taking TikTok Away From Americans (The New York Times)

(February 1 -February 7, 2023)

Senate of Canada

The Online Streaming Act in the Senate (SenCA+ Magazine)

Canadian Heritage

New CRTC Chair’s Leadership Will Help Shape the Future of Canada’s Communication System

Global Affairs Canada

Canada sanctions additional Russian propagandists

CRTC

Today’s Releases – February 7, 2023
- Telecom order: 2023-24 – Streamlined order – The Commission approves on an interim basis the following tariff applications: Télébec, Société en commandite, TN 528 and TN 528A

Senate of Canada

Planned and Possible Sitting Days: The Senate will sit on February 7, 2023 to February 13, 2023
- February 8, 2023 6:45 PM ET Transport and Communications Bill S-242, An Act to amend the Radiocommunication Act
  - Nour Abdelaal, Policy Analyst, Leadership Lab, Toronto Metropolitan University As an Individual
  - Jonathan Black, Executive Director Canadian Association of Wireless Internet Service Providers
  - Michele Lajeunesse, Senior Vice-President, Government Relations and Policy TECHNATION
  - Michael Dugeri, Policy Analyst TECHNATION

House of Commons

Planned and Possible Sitting Days: The House of Commons will sit on February 7, 2023 to February 13, 2023
- Standing Committee on National Defence (NDDN) Tuesday, February 7, 2023, 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare
- Industry and Technology (INDU) Wednesday, February 8, 2023, 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. (EST) Televised Studies and Activities Bill C-244, An Act to amend the Copyright Act (diagnosis, maintenance and repair)

CRTC

Anticipated Releases: The CRTC is not planning on issuing any decisions, regulatory policies and reports in the week of 6 to 10 February 2023. This is subject to change without notice.

Open Proceedings

· CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings

· CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Public Consultations:

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