Weekly News (August 22, 2023)

Compiled by Brad McNeil and Manveetha Muddaluru with Sara Bannerman

McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

(August 15 – August 21, 2023)

Canadian News 

• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] Trudeau accuses Facebook of prioritizing profits by blocking news access during wildfires (Globe and Mail)
• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] Lack of local media, Meta’s news block impact Northwest Territories residents’ access to information (Globe and Mail)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Government to ‘prioritize’ generative-AI regulation, outlines plans for voluntary code of conduct (National Post)
• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] Canadian media trained audiences to use Facebook. With Meta blocking news, what’s next? (CBC News)
• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] Heritage Minister says Meta news block endangers lives as Canadians flee wildfires (Toronto Star)
• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] ‘They silenced a community’: What Facebook’s Canadian news ban is doing to these independent journalists (Toronto Star)
• [PRIVACY] N.B. school gender policy breaks laws: watchdog (National Post)
• [HATE SPEECH] Court orders new trial for man acquitted of anti-gay hate speech at Toronto Pride Parade (Toronto Star)
• [PRIVACY/LAWSUIT] Proposed class-action lawsuit takes aim at Toronto Police Services Board over carding (Globe and Mail)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] Former CEO Joe Natale sues Rogers, alleges wrongful dismissal — and humiliation (Toronto Star)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY] Quebecor asks industry minister to intervene in dispute with Rogers over MVNO rates (Globe and Mail)
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] Carlow Mayo council votes to concur with proposed Kuno Road cell tower (Penticton Herald)
• [PRIVACY] LCBO customer-data hack resulted from ‘stolen’ credentials at Toronto marketing agency (Globe and Mail)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Microsoft’s AI-written travel guide calls Ottawa Food Bank a ‘beautiful tourist attraction’ (National Post)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Parents take their own crash course on advancing tech as AI, chatbots enter classroom (Globe and Mail) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] How AI is opening new frontiers for criminals – and the cops who hunt them (Toronto Star)
• [PRIVACY/CYBERSECURITY] LinkedIn launches government ID-based verification in Canada to build trust (Globe and Mail) 
• [MEDIA DIVERSITY] Canadian TV series centered on race and identity among projects added to TIFF lineup (Toronto Star)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] OPINION: Blayne Haggart and Natasha Tusikov: The Canadian government’s poor track record on public consultations undermines its ability to regulate new technologies (The Conversation)
• [PRIVACY] OPINION: J.D.M. Stewart: What kind of privacy can a prime minister realistically expect? (Globe and Mail)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] OPINION: Eleonore Fournier-Tombs: The use of AI during the COVID-19 pandemic required adapting the technology to its context (The Conversation)
• [PRIVACY/ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] OPINION: Andrew Wiebe: Zoom’s scrapped proposal to mine user data  causes concern about our virtual and private Indigenous Knowledge (The Conversation)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] OPINION: Burcu Olgen and Carmela Cucuzzella: Artificial intelligence can be used to design engaging and interactive public art (The Conversation)

International News

• [PLATFORM REGULATION] America’s Tech Giants Rush to Comply With New Curbs in Europe (Wall Street Journal)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/CENSORSHIP] Biden Administration Urges Justices to Hear Cases on Social Media Laws (New York Times)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Sweden raises its terror threat level to high for fear of attacks; Concerns string of Qur’an burnings have made country a target (AP News)
• [CENSORSHIP] Algeria bans ‘Barbie’ almost a month after movie’s local release (CTV News)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] China, U.S. Test Intelligent-Drone Swarms in Race for Military AI Dominance (Wall Street Journal)
• [SURVEILLANCE] US watchdog to announce plans to regulate ‘surveillance industry’ (Reuters)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/COPYRIGHT] AI-generated art cannot be copyrighted under U.S. law, court rules (Globe and Mail)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] FEC moves toward potentially regulating AI deepfakes in campaign ads (PBS News)
• [DEFAMATION] Thailand’s Pheu Thai party joins with pro-military parties in coalition to form new government (AP News)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] The Battle to Ban TikTok and the Man at the Center of It (Wall Street Journal)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE/COMPETITION] Musk’s throttling of links from some news outlets, competitors stokes legal concerns (Washington Post)
• [PRIVACY] YouTube Ads May Have Led to Online Tracking of Children, Research Says (New York Times)
• [MISINFORMATION/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] YouTube to prohibit false claims about cancer treatments under its medical misinformation policy (CTV News)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/COPYRIGHT/PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] YouTube starts Music AI incubator with Universal Music as partner (Reuters)
• [COMPETITION/ANTITRUST] Amazon Imposing Fee on Sellers Who Ship Products Themselves (Bloomberg)
• [HATE SPEECH] From Nazi propaganda to Holocaust denial, social media is pushing hate on users: study (USA Today)
• [DEFAMATION] Judge won’t delay Trump’s defamation claims trial, calling the ex-president’s appeal frivolous (AP News)
• [COPYRIGHT] Judge blocks Internet Archive from sharing copyrighted books (AP News)
• [CENSORSHIP] Nonprofit hits back at GOP allegations it supported a ‘censorship regime’ (Washington Post)
• [CENSORSHIP] Books banned in other states fuel Vermont lieutenant governor’s reading tour (Toronto Star)
• [CENSORSHIP] Georgia made it easier for parents to challenge school library books. Almost no one has done so (Toronto Star)
• [FREEDOM OF SPEECH] US universities launch partnership to elevate free speech to counter threats to democracy (AP News)
• [FREEDOM OF THE PRESS] The initial online search spurring a raid on a Kansas paper was legal, a state agency says (AP News)
• [FREEDOM OF THE PRESS] Kansas prosecutor says police should return computers and cellphones seized in raid on newspaper (AP News)
• [INTERNET POLICY] Elon Musk’s Unmatched Power in the Stars (New York Times)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] The New York Times prohibits using its content to train AI models (The Verge)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/CONTENT MODERATION] OpenAI says AI tools can be effective in content moderation (Reuters)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] AI use rising in influence campaigns online, but impact limited – US cyber firm (Reuters)
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] ChatGPT leans liberal, research shows (Washington Post)

(August 15 – August 21, 2023)

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

• Government of Canada invests an additional $10.3 million to bring high-speed Internet access to more than 1,000 Indigenous homes 

National Film Board

• Join in a playful VR exploration of artificial intelligence. North American premiere of Sandra Rodriguez’s CHOM5KY vs CHOMSKY starts September 6 at the NFB Space in Montreal. 

Copyright Board of Canada

• Appointment Opportunity – Board Member 

CRTC:

• Broadcasting decision 2023-269
  [2023-08-21 11:00:00]
  9643125 Canada Inc. – Halifax, Nova Scotia – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the commercial ethnic specialty radio station CHHU-FM Halifax
• Broadcasting decision 2023-268
  [2023-08-21 11:00:00]
  Corus Radio Inc. – Calgary, Alberta – Renewal of the broadcasting licences for the English-language commercial radio stations CFGQ-FM Calgary and its transmitter as well as CFGQ-FM-2 Banff and CHQR Calgary
• Broadcasting decision 2023-267
  [2023-08-21 11:00:00]
  Crossroads Television System – Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta; and Hamilton, Ottawa and London, Ontario – Applications to renew the broadcasting licences for the English-language conventional religious television stations CITS-DT Hamilton, Ontario, and its transmitters, CKCS-DT Calgary and CKES DT Edmonton, Alberta
• Broadcasting decision 2023-266
  [2023-08-21 11:00:00]
  CIMM-FM Radio Ltd. – Ucluelet, British Columbia – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the English-language commercial radio station CIMM-FM Ucluelet
• Broadcasting order 2023-265
  [2023-08-21 11:00:00]
  Mandatory order – Parrsboro Radio Society – Parrsboro, Nova Scotia – Pursuant to subsection 12(2) of the Broadcasting Act, the Commission orders Parrsboro Radio Society, licensee of CICR-FM Parrsboro, to comply at all times during the term of the licence granted in CICR-FM Parrsboro – Licence renewal and issuance of mandatory orders, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2023-263, 21 August 2023, with the requirement set out in paragraph 9(3)(b) of the Radio Regulations, 1986
• Broadcasting order 2023-264
  [2023-08-21 11:00:00]
  Mandatory order – Parrsboro Radio Society – Parrsboro, Nova Scotia – Pursuant to subsection 12(2) of the Broadcasting Act, the Commission orders Parrsboro Radio Society, licensee of CICR-FM Parrsboro, to comply at all times during the term of the licence granted in CICR-FM Parrsboro – Licence renewal and issuance of mandatory orders, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2023-263, 21 August 2023, with the requirements set out in subsection 8(1) of the Radio Regulations, 1986
• Broadcasting decision 2023-263
  [2023-08-21 11:00:00]
  Parrsboro Radio Society – Parrsboro, Nova Scotia – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the English-language community radio station CICR-FM Parrsboro, Nova Scotia
• Telecom order 2023-262
  [2023-08-18 11:00:00]
  Streamlined order – The Commission approves on a final basis the following tariff applications: Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (RCCI), on behalf of Cross Country T.V. Limited, TN 2; RCCI, on behalf of Seaside Wireless Communications Inc., TN 3; RCCI, on behalf of ZIP Telecom Inc., TN 2
• Broadcasting decision 2023-261
  [2023-08-18 11:00:00]
  Radio Vie Nouvelle – Ottawa, Ontario – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the low-power, French-language commercial specialty (Religious music) radio station CJVN-FM Ottawa
• Broadcasting decision 2023-260
  [2023-08-18 11:00:00]
  Stingray Radio Inc. – Wetaskiwin, Alberta – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the English-language commercial AM radio station CKJR Wetaskiwin
• Broadcasting decision 2023-259
  [2023-08-18 11:00:00]
  LE5 Communications Inc. – Sudbury, Ontario – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the French-language commercial radio station CHYC-FM Sudbury
• Broadcasting decision 2023-258
  [2023-08-18 11:00:00]
  Sound of Faith Broadcasting – Woodstock, Ontario – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the English-language commercial specialty (Religious music) radio station CJFH-FM Woodstock
• Broadcasting decision 2023-257
  [2023-08-16 11:00:00]
  I.T. Productions Ltd. – Vancouver, British Columbia – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the commercial ethnic radio station CJRJ Vancouver
• Broadcasting decision 2023-256
  [2023-08-16 11:00:00]
  1490525 Ontario Inc. – Across Canada – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the English-language discretionary service Silver Screen Classics
• Broadcasting decision 2023-255
  [2023-08-15 11:00:00]
  Radio communautaire francophone de Montréal inc. – Montreal, Quebec – Application to renew the broadcasting licence for the French-language community radio station CIBL-FM Montreal
• Telecom order 2023-254
  [2023-08-15 11:00:00]
  Broadband Fund – Acceptance of statement of work for Sichuun Inc. and Naskapi Imuun Inc.’s mobile project in northeastern Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador – Public record: 1011-NOC2019-0372

Google

• Announcing the new Transparency Center 

Microsoft

• Microsoft and Activision Blizzard restructure proposed acquisition and notify restructured transaction to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority

Senate of Canada

• Planned and Possible Sitting Days: The Senate will not sit during the week August 21 to 25, 2023. The Senate is adjourned until September 19, 2023.

House of Commons

• Planned and Possible Sitting Days: the House of Commons will not sit during the week of August 21 to 25, 2023. The House is adjourned until Monday, September 18, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. (EDT). 

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

• Anticipated releases for the week of 21 to 25 August 2023
  • Broadcasting Decisions:
    • Applications by various licensees to renew the broadcasting licenses for various radio and TV stations
• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Consultations:

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

·         Consultation on amendments to the Patent Rules – Planned: Aug 7, 2023 to Sept 8, 2023 

·         Bill S-242 – An Act to amend the Radiocommunication Act – Briefings for Stakeholders – Open: Aug 10, 2023 to Aug 22, 2023

·         Development of a Canadian code of practice for generative AI – Open: Aug 4, 2023 to Sept 14, 2023

Canadian Heritage

·         Engagement sessions with Canadian book publishers and book industry stakeholders – Planned: May 30, 2023 to Sept 29, 2023 

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat:

·         Creating Canada’s 6th National Action Plan on Open Government – Planned: Sept 1, 2023 to Oct 31, 2023

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