Weekly News (April 12, 2023)

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

McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

(April 04 – April 11, 2023)

Canadian News 

• [BROADCAST REGULATION] As content creators await the passing of Bill C-11, some say it’s still too ambiguous (The Globe and Mail)
• [BROADCAST REGULATION] OPINION: Geist: The Senate should stick to its guns on Bill C-11 (The Globe and Mail)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Federal privacy watchdog probing OpenAI, ChatGPT following complaint (The CBC)
• [BROADCAST REGULATION] LGBTQ group asks CRTC to ban Fox News Channel over anti-trans comments (The Calgary Herald)
• [COPYRIGHT] Giving Canadians the ‘right to repair’ empowers consumers, supports competition and benefits the environment (The Conversation)
• [BROADCAST REGULATION] OPINION: Bourcheix-Laporte How the Online Streaming Act will support Canadian content (The Conversation)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT] Experts urge CRTC to take action forcing companies to provide cell service on TTC (The Globe and Mail)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] Conservatives ask Twitter to label CBC accounts as ‘government-funded’ media (The Toronto Star)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] OPINION: Editorial team: The robots are coming. Is Ottawa ready? (The Globe and Mail)
• [MISINFORMATION/ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] ChatGPT is generating fake news stories — attributed to real journalists. I set out to separate fact from fiction (The Toronto Star)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] What the recent ban on spectrum sales by the Canadian government means for the telecom industry (The Globe and Mail)
• [TELECOMMUNICATION POLICY] Quebecor will move ‘quickly’ to bring down wireless prices for Freedom Mobile customers, CEO says (The Globe and Mail)
• [TELECOMMUNICATION POLICY] OPINION: Milstead There’s no way to track the last of the Shaw mystery millions (The Globe and Mail)

International News

• [PLATFORM REGULATION/PRIVACY] House GOP Subpoenas FTC for Twitter Investigation Documents (The Wall Street Journal)
• [PRIVACY] Biden abortion rule seeks to protect women crossing state lines (Reuters)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] With the growth of AI, the Biden administration explores an auditing system (The Wall Street Journal)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] A Plan to Ban TikTok in Montana Is a Preview for the Rest of the Country (The New York Times)
• [TELECOMMUNICATION] U.S. House to vote on bill to address potential Huawei, ZTE threats (Reuters)
• [ANTITRUST] Google antitrust cases at a crossroads as giant seeks early knockout (The Washington Post)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] South Korea Fines Google $32 Million for Squeezing Out Local Rival (The Wall Street Journal)
• [BIG DATA/SMART CITIES] Big data help planners reimagine cities as new work patterns emerge (The Globe and Mail)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] Which countries have banned TikTok and why? (EuroNews)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] Why Countries Are Trying to Ban TikTok (The New York Times)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] ChatGPT can resume in Italy if meets data watchdog’s demands (Reuters)
• [DEFAMATION] Rupert Murdoch can be compelled to testify in Fox defamation trial (The Financial Post)
• [PRIVACY] OPINION: Levitt & Carey Howard Levitt: Why you shouldn’t expect privacy on your workplace devices (The Financial Post)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Australia urges U.S. to drop espionage case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (The Globe and Mail)

(April 04 – April 11 2023)

CRTC

• Bram Abramson to the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Wireless Internet Providers 
• RCMP’s National Cybercrime Coordination Centre announces Canada’s participation in global day of action against Genesis Market | Royal Canadian Mounted Police (rcmp-grc.gc.ca) 
• Telecom Order
  • 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

Global Affairs Canada

• Minister Ng leads Canada Clean Tech Trade Mission to Chile 

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

• Canada and Switzerland to make announcement on science, technology and innovation cooperation 

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• Privacy Tech-Know blog: When worlds collide – The possibilities and limits of algorithmic fairness (Part 1) 
• Privacy Tech-Know blog: When worlds collide – The possibilities and limits of algorithmic fairness (Part 2) 

Microsoft

• Standing up for democratic values and protecting stability of cyberspace: Principles to limit the threats posed by cyber mercenaries 

Twitter

• A new era of transparency for Twitter

Supreme Court of Canada

• Scheduled Hearing:
  • April 17, 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 not sit this week. The next planned sitting day is April 18, 2023. 

House of Commons

• Planned and Possible Sitting Days: The House of Commons will not sit this week. The next planned  sitting date is April 17, 2023.

CRTC

• Anticipated releases for the week of 10 to 14 April 2023: The CRTC is not planning on issuing any decisions, regulatory policies and reports in the week of 10 to 14 April 2023. This is subject to change without notice.

• 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 View hearing documents (2022-147)

Open Proceedings

• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Public Consultations:

• CRTC
  • 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  
  • Share your comments on the review of the Broadband fund (start date March 23, 2023 to July 21, 2023) 

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

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