Weekly News (June 20, 2023)

Compiled by Brad McNeil and Charnjot Shokar with Sara Bannerman

McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

(June 14  – June 19, 2023)

Canadian News 

• [ONLINE NEWS BILL] Heritage Minister Rodriguez rejects key Senate change to Bill C-18, paving way for Facebook news block (Globe and Mail) 
• [ONLINE NEWS BILL] Bell cuts put Bill C-11, C-18 back in the spotlight as Meta tests blocking news (Toronto Star) 
• [ONLINE NEWS BILL] Want to read news online? Google and Facebook threaten to make that a lot harder as this federal bill is poised to become law (Toronto Star) 
• [ONLINE STREAMING BILL]  Pornhub asks CRTC not to regulate adult content under online streaming bill  (National Post) 
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY/JOURNALISM] Bell cuts 1,300 jobs, including prominent CTV journalists (Toronto Star) 
• [HATE SPEECH; INDIGENOUS DATA SOVEREIGNTY] Unmarked graves report lays out challenges — including fighting denialism (Toronto Star) 
• [CONTENT MODERATION] Alberta’s Danielle Smith said she was suspended on Facebook. The company said that’s not the case (Toronto Star) 
• [COPYRIGHT] How Reservoir Media is revolutionizing the music copyright business (Globe and Mail) 
• [COPYRIGHT] Sued for sharing your password? A Federal Court case is deciding if you can be  (National Post) 
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Federal review of access-to-information law delivers no recommendations (Globe and Mail) 
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Canada’s immigration system is overwhelmed with information requests. Ottawa was warned – but did nothing (Globe and Mail) 
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] This government department saw the most complaints about handing over information (Toronto Star) 
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Ottawa rejected watchdog request for more access to information funding (Globe and Mail) 
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] Ontario doctor’s fight for his employment records reveals flaws in Canada’s FOI system (Globe and Mail) 
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] OPINION: EDITORIAL BOARD: Secret Canada: Feeble FOI laws need teeth and consequences (Globe and Mail) 
• [ACCESS TO INFORMATION] OPINION: Kelly Cryderman: Alberta denying information requests is worrying  (Globe and Mail) 
• [PRIVACY/ACCESS TO INFORMATION] OPINION: Dean Beeby: Cabinet’s privacy pendulum has swung too far in the wrong direction (Globe and Mail) 
• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] OPINION: Michael Geist: Artificial intelligence makes Bill C-18, Canada’s Online News Act, already outdated (Globe and Mail) 
• [PRIVACY] OPINION: Rita Trichur: Will Ottawa finally allow banks to share information to catch money launderers? Fingers crossed (Globe and Mail) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REGULATION] OPINION: David Olive: Fear not an AI apocalypse. But with so many scams and deep fakes, Canada must step in to regulate (Toronto Star) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] OPINION: Brad Wheeler: New ‘final’ Beatles song produced with AI is sparking tech fears (Globe and Mail) 

International News

• [PLATFORM REGULATION/ADVERTISING] Europe seeks breakup of Google ad business (The Post) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REGULATION] Tech entrepreneur Hogarth will head UK’s AI taskforce (Reuters) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REGULATION] Congress seeks crash course on AI from insiders  (Washington Post) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REGULATION] Europeans take major step to regulate AI  (New York Times) 
• [FREE SPEECH] Indian court halts airing of documentary on Muslim minority (The Guardian) 
• [CENSORSHIP/FREE SPEECH/DISINFORMATION] Judge to Decide if U.S. Government Improperly Censored Social-Media Users (Wall Street Journal) 
• [CYBERSECURITY] Little cause for optimism that Blinken’s China visit changed cyber equation (Washington Post) 
• [FREE SPEECH] The EARN IT Act poses risks to LGBTQ communities online, advocates say. Here’s how (USA Today) 
• [PRIVACY] Privacy and kids’ safety are dominating state tech rules in 2023 ; Movement has been slow on competition and content moderation rules, meanwhile. (Washington Post) 
• [CONTENT MODERATION] Meta rolls back measures to tackle COVID misinformation (Reuters) 
• [CYBERSECURITY] North Korean hackers create fake web portal, South’s spy agency says (Reuters) 
• [CYBERSECURITY] US energy department, other agencies hit in global hacking spree (Reuters) 
• [CYBER ATTACK] Every Louisiana driver’s license holder exposed in colossal cyber-attack (The Guardian) 
• [FREE SPEECH] Facebook helped bring free speech to Vietnam. Now it’s helping stifle it.  (Washington Post) 
• [PRIVACY] Meta to Lower Age for Users of Virtual Reality Headset to 10 From 13 (New York Times) 
• [HARMFUL CONTENT] Twitter is the worst major social media platform when it comes to LGBTQ+ safety, says GLAAD (Toronto Star) 
• [JOURNALISM/FREE SPEECH] How Local Officials Seek Revenge on Their Hometown Newspapers (New York  Times) 
• [PRESS FREEDOM] Tunisians Mourn a Hard-Fought Freedom Rapidly Slipping Away (New York Times) 
• [HARMFUL CONTENT/CONTENT MODERATION] FIFA social media tool aims to protect Women’s World Cup players from abuse (Reuters) 
• [HARMFUL CONTENT/PLATFORM REGULATION] Victims speak out over ‘tsunami’ of fraud on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp (The Guardian) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/HARMFUL CONTENT] AI-generated child sex images spawn new nightmare for the web (Washington Post)  
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Celebrities Use AI to Take Control of Their Own Images (Wall Street Journal) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] AI music will be eligible for a Grammy, but only if a human helps (Washington Post)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] When AI Overrules the Nurses Caring for You (Wall Street Journal) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REGULATION/LABOUR] They helped train Google’s AI. Then they got fired after speaking out.  (Washington Post) 
• [PRIVACY] Courts Put Privacy Over Transparency in FTX, Other Crypto Bankruptcies  (Wall Street Journal) 
• [PRIVACY/ELECTIONS] Court unseals long-awaited election security reports ; The two sides of a long-running dispute over the security of Georgia’s election machines can’t agree on what conclusions to draw. (Washington Post) 
• [DEFAMATION] Ex-State Rep. Denyse Stoneback sues successor, GPAC Illinois saying they defamed her (Chicago Tribune) 
• [DEFAMATION] E. Jean Carroll defamation suit against Trump scheduled for January  (Washington Post) 
• [FREE SPEECH] OPINION: Ann Atkinson: I Paid for Free Speech at Arizona State (Wall Street Journal) 
• [PRIVACY] OPINION: Julia Angwin: One of the Last Bastions of Digital Privacy Is Under Threat; Guest Essay (New York Times)  
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] OPINION: David Evan Harris: AI is already causing unintended harm. What happens when it falls into the wrong hands? (The Guardian) 

(June 14  – June 19, 2023)

Senate of Canada

• Needed: An Innovation Strategy for the Data-Driven Economy (Report)

Canadian Intellectual Property Office

• CIPO releases its 2021-2022 Annual Report

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

• Government of Canada investing in world-leading Canadian company to deliver cutting-edge new live media platforms
• Governments of Canada and Ontario invest over $71 million to bring high-speed Internet access to more than 22,000 homes in 74 communities across eastern Ontario

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission 

• Speech:Bram Abramson to the Radiodays North America conference
• Releases
  • Telecom decision 2023-182
    [2023-06-15 11:00:00]
    TerreStar Solutions Inc. – Request for a declaration that subordination of spectrum licence is not a telecommunications service – Public record: 8663-T133-202209452
  • Broadcasting decision 2023-181
    [2023-06-14 11:00:00]
    Dufferin Communications Inc. – Brantford, Ontario – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the English-language commercial specialty (Religious music) AM radio station CKPC Brantford
  • Broadcasting decision 2023-180
    [2023-06-14 11:00:00]
    Communications CHIC (C.H.I.C.) – Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the French-language commercial specialty (Religious music) radio station CHIC-FM Rouyn-Noranda

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• Canadians less confident that their privacy rights are being respected: poll

Google

• [PUBLIC POLICY] We’re taking legal action to stop fake review scams
• [ADVERTISING] Today’s European Commission announcement about our advertising technology

Senate of Canada

• Planned and Possible Sitting Days: The Senate will sit from June 20 to June 22, 2023. With a possible sitting day on June 23, 2023.
  • Bills on the agenda:
    • Bill C-288 – An Act to amend the Telecommunications Act (transparent and accurate broadband services information) (at second reading in the Senate)

House of Commons

• Planned and Possible Sitting Days: the House of Commons will sit from June 20 to June 23, 2023.
  • Committee Meetings:
    • Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics: Appointment of the Hon. Navdeep Bains as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Rogers Communications: June 20, 2023 at 3:30 pm 
  • Bills on the agenda:
    • Bill S-242 – An Act to amend the Radiocommunication Act (at second reading in the House of Commons)
    • Bill C-18: An Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada (at consideration in the House of Commons of amendments made by the Senate)
    • Bill C-26: An Act respecting cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts (at consideration in committee in the House of Commons)
    • 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 (at consideration in committee in the House of Commons)

CRTC

• Anticipated Releases for the week of June 19 to 23, 2023: The CRTC plans to issue the following decisions and/or regulatory policies in the week of 19 to 23 June 2023. This is subject to change without notice.  
  • Broadcasting Decisions:
    • Applications by various licensees to renew the broadcasting licences for various radio stations
    • Sirius XM Canada Inc.
      Across Canada
      Regulatory relief regarding the payment of Canadian content development contribution shortfalls for the 2020-2021 broadcast year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
      Public record: 2022-0328-0
• Upcoming Hearings
  • June 28, 2023 – Gatineau, Quebec
    • To consider the broadcasting applications listed in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2023-72
    • View hearing documents (2023-72)
• Open Proceedings
  • CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
    • Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2023-138: The Path Forward: Deadline for submission of interventions: July 11, 2023
    • 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
  • 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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