Weekly Newsletter for July 9, 2024

Weekly News (July 9, 2024)

Compiled by Brad McNeil with Sara Bannerman

McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

(July 4 – 9, 2024)

Canadian News

• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] Foreign streaming services challenge requirement to pay into fund for Canadian news (Canadian Press) 
• [ONLINE HARMS ACT] Canadians to decide if online harms regulator is bureaucracy or enforcement, PBO says (Globe and Mail) 
• [ONLINE HARMS ACT] Poilievre vows to scrap Online Harms Act as PBO pegs cost of regulators at $200M (Globe and Mail) 
• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] Streaming giants launch multiple legal challenges to Bill C-11 payments in Canada (Globe and Mail) 
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] CRTC to invest $271.9 million to bring fibre internet to four Nunavut communities (Hamilton Spectator) 
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] CRTC posts independent report on Rogers outage, says company made necessary changes (Financial Post) 
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS/COMPETITION] Bell files injunction seeking to block Rogers from broadcasting Warner Bros. content (CTV News) 
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] Bell acquires technical services companies Stratejm and CloudKettle (Globe and Mail) 
• [MEDIA] Journalism Collective director apologizes for antisemitic re-posts; News Funding  (National Post) 
• [MEDIA] Some analysts are now saying Global’s owner is headed for bankruptcy — can Corus be saved? (Toronto Star) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/CAMPUS PROTESTS]  University of Waterloo sues encampment protesters for $1.5M, claiming damage to property and reputation  (Toronto Star) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/LABOUR]  Corporate push for productivity gains to fuel more use of AI: Google Cloud executive (BNN Bloomberg) 
• [ONLINE STREAMING ACT] OPINION: Amar Wala: The anything-but-normal reality of making a Canadian film (Globe and Mail) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] OPINION: Mat Savelli: AI is a cause for concern for the future of human interaction (Globe and Mail) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/CAMPUS PROTESTS] Opinion: Melvyn L. Solomon & Heidi R. Brown: It’s not too late to correct the flawed report on TMU’s vile antisemitic student letter (National Post) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/CAMPUS PROTESTS] OPINION: Faisal Kutty: Court ruling a vindication for pro-Palestinian protesters at U of T  (Toronto Star) 
• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] OPINION: Dave Adsett: Community newspaper publishers deserve a seat at the table (National Post) 
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/MISINFORMATION] OPINION: Jen Gerson: Sometimes conspiracy theorists get things sort of right  (Globe and Mail) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/CAMPUS PROTESTS]  OPINION: Tony Keller: The U of T occupation was illegal. Why? Because it was an occupation (Globe and Mail) 
• [ONLINE NEWS ACT] OPINION: Michael Taube: Google partners with lefty collective in attempted end run around Online News Act (National Post) 

International News

• [PLATFORM REGULATION] Biden’s gameplan against tech giants faces new legal dangers  (Washington Post) 
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/CYBERSECURITY] Pakistan’s Punjab seeks social media ban on security concerns (Reuters) 
• [PLATFORM REGULATION/CYBERSECURITY] At OpenAI, Hack Raises Concerns About China  (New York Times) 
• [NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE/CLOUD COMPUTING] Australia spy agency moves intelligence data to cloud in Amazon deal (Reuters) 
• [SEARCH RECCOMENDERS] Google Search Ranks AI Spam Above Original Reporting in News Results (Wired) 
• [ONLINE HARMS/HATE SPEECH] Is Xenophobia on Chinese Social Media Teaching Real-World Hate? (New York Times) 
• [TELECOMMUNICATIONS] Sri Lanka gives preliminary approval to Musk’s Starlink (Reuters) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Netflix Show Earns Its Saudi Creator Plaudits, and a Prison Sentence (New York Times) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] The Underground Network Sneaking Nvidia Chips Into China (Wall Street Journal) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/CAMPUS PROTESTS] Under-the-radar website shares names, profiles of students protesting Gaza war  (USA Today) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/JOURNALISM] Is it OK to take news stories and feed them to AI bots? Tech companies say it is — and journalists are worried  (Toronto Star) 
• [CONTENT MODERATION/FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] In a loss for conservatives, justices protect content moderation as speech  (Washington Post) 
• [CONTENT MODERATION] Meta expands hate speech policy to remove more posts targeting ‘Zionists’ (Rueters) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] Los Angeles School System Loses a Risky Bet on A.I.  (New York Times) 
• [ONLINE HARMS] How Tom Hanks’s Son Spawned a Hateful Meme Online  (New York Times) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/CYBERSECURITY] Insurers fret over militant attacks, AI hacks at Paris Olympics (Reuters) 
• [ONLINE HARASSMENT] Students Target Teachers in Group TikTok Attack, Shaking Their School (New York Times) 
• [CYBERSECURITY]  Pressed to apologize for 2019 tax leak, IRS acknowledges shoddy cybersecurity  (Washington Post) 
• [DATA PRIVACY] Ticketmaster warns customers to take action after hack (BBC) 
• [DEFAMATION] A billionaire is boosting a major defamation lawsuit against Fox News (Washington Post) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE] The intense battle to stop AI bots from taking over the internet (Independant) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/CLIMATE CHANGE] AI will be help rather than hindrance in hitting climate targets, Bill Gates says (The Guardian) 
• [ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/MILITARY] OPINION: Owen West: AI Drones Threaten U.S. Forces (Wall Street Journal) 
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] OPINION: Tim Wu: The First Amendment Is Out of Control (New York Times) 

(July 4 – 9, 2024)

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada 

• News Release:
  • Privacy Sweep finds majority of apps and websites use deceptive design to influence privacy choices, including sites targeting children 

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

• Government of Canada supporting manufacturing and commercialization of semiconductors 

Competition Bureau Canada

• News Release:
  • Competition Bureau statement regarding guidance on Competition Act’s new greenwashing provisions 

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

• Bell Canada Petition:
  • Petition to the Governor in Council concerning Telecom Decision CRTC 2023-358 

Canadian Heritage

• News Release:
  • Prince Edward Island cultural organizations receive nearly $600,000 in funding 

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

• News Releases:
  • CRTC takes action to bring fibre Internet to four Inuit communities in Nunavut for the first time 
• Backgrounder
  • CRTC Broadband Fund: Project selected in July 2024 
• Broadcasting and Telecoms
  • Broadcasting and Online News Act notice of consultation 2024-143-1
    [2024-07-09 11:00:00]
    Call for comments – Application for exemption from the Online News Act by Google – Extension to the deadlines for the submission of documents requested in question 10, of comments and of replies
  • Telecom order 2024-156
    [2024-07-09 11:00:00]
    Broadband Fund – Change request – Northwestel Inc.’s Yukon fibre project – July 2024 – Public record: 1011-NOC2019-0191
  • Telecom order 2024-155
    [2024-07-09 11:00:00]
    Streamlined order – The Commission approves on an interim basis the following tariff applications: Quebecor Media Inc., on behalf of its subsidiary Videotron Ltd., TN 64 and Télébec, Société en commandite, TN 555, TN 555A and TN 555B
  • Telecom order 2024-154
    [2024-07-09 11:00:00]
    Streamlined order – The Commission approves the following tariff applications: Bell Canada, TN 986 and TN 7696
  • Telecom order 2024-153
    [2024-07-09 11:00:00]
    Streamlined order – The Commission approves on an interim basis, by majority decision, the following tariff application: Norouestel Inc., TN 1219
  • Telecom order 2024-152
    [2024-07-08 11:00:00]
    Streamlined order – The Commission approves on an interim basis the following tariff application: Saskatchewan Telecommunications, TN 382
  • Telecom order 2024-151
    [2024-07-08 11:00:00]
    Streamlined order – The Commission approves on an interim basis, by majority decision, the following tariff application: Bell Canada, TN 7694
  • Telecom order 2024-150
    [2024-07-08 11:00:00]
    Streamlined order – The Commission approves on an interim basis the following tariff application Bell Canada, TN 984
  • Telecom decision 2024-149
    [2024-07-04 16:00:00]
    Broadband Fund – Project funding approval for the Government of Nunavut’s transport fibre project in Nunavut – Public record: 1011-NOC2022-0325

The TechLobby 

•  2023 TechLobby Annual Report 

Microsoft

• Combatting AI Deepfakes: Our Participation in the 2024 Political Conventions 

Senate of Canada

• The Senate sitting and possible sitting days:  The Senate will not be sitting the week of July 8 – 12, 2024. The next scheduled sitting day is September 17, 2024.

House of Commons

• The House of Commons sitting and possible sitting days:  The House of Commons will not be sitting the week of July 8 – 12, 2024. The next scheduled sitting day is September 16, 2024.

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

• Anticipated releases for the week of 8 to 12 July 2024:
  • The CRTC is not planning on issuing any decisions, regulatory policies and reports in the week of 8 to 12 July 2024. This is subject to change without notice. 

• Upcoming Hearings
  • September 14, 2023 – National Capital Region
    To consider the broadcasting applications listed in Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2023-206, View hearing documents (2023-206)
• CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings
• CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings

Consultations:

Spectrum Management Consultations

·         Consultation on a Policy, Licensing and Technical Framework for Supplemental Mobile Coverage by Satellite  – Closing date for comments: September 13, 2024. Closing date for reply to comments: October 25, 2024

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

•  Right to Repair Consultation – Closing date for comments: September 26, 2024. 

•  Consultation on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Compute – Closing date for comments: September 6, 2024  

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

• Call for comments – Co-development of an Indigenous Broadcasting Policy – July 22, 2024 2024-67

• Share your thoughts about Google’s exemption application under the Online News Act

• Broadcasting and Online News Act notice of consultation 2024-143-1
• [2024-07-09 11:00:00] Call for comments – Application for exemption from the Online News Act by Google – Extension to the deadlines for the submission of documents requested in question 10, of comments and of replies
•  New deadline for submission of documents requested in question 10: 15 July 2024

•  New deadline for submission of comments: 6 August 2024

• New deadline for submission of replies: 19 August 2024

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