Weekly News (July 23, 2018)

Compiled by Charnjot Shokar

McMaster University, Communications Governance Observatory

Canadian News (July 16-22, 2018)

• [ELECTIONS] Erskine-Smith & Zimmer: Canada works with allies to combat foreign election interference (Toronto Star)
• [CULTURAL POLICY] Joly learned about Canada’s thorny culture file the hard way (Globe & Mail)
• [CULTURAL POLICY] Fox: Cabinet reset an opportunity for a policy reset in support of ‘civic journalism’ (Toronto Star)
• [TELECOM] CRTC investigating ‘possible misleading’ telco sales practices after first rejecting the idea (CBC)
• [PRIVACY] Judge limits Canada’s international spying reach (Globe and Mail)
• [PRIVACY] Toronto police to ask city to double public cameras, install gunshot detectors (Globe and Mail)
• [PRIVACY] Eggleton & Saint-Germain: Privacy laws must catch up with technology (Toronto Star)
• [FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION] Incident with Niagara reporter was violation of rights: Ontario ombudsman (National Post) 

International News (July 16-22, 2018)

• [ANTITRUST] Google was just hit with the world’s biggest antitrust fine ever — a whopping $5 billion (Financial Post)
• [MEDIA OWNERSHIP] FCC Chairman Has ‘Serious Concerns’ With Sinclair-Tribune Deal (WSJ)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] Republicans accused Facebook, Google and Twitter of bias. Democrats called the hearing ‘dumb.’ (Washington Post)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION] India’s top court calls for new law to curb mob violence (ABC)
• [PLATFORM REGULATION / CENSORSHIP] Egypt passes bill to block popular social media accounts over ‘fake news’ accusations (ABC)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] Facebook Will Remove Fake Content Meant to Incite Violence (HuffPost, original – NYT)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] WhatsApp to restrict message forwarding after India mob lynchings (The Guardian)
• [PLATFORM GOVERNANCE] FamilyOFive: YouTube bans ‘pranksters’ after child abuse conviction (Guardian)
• [ELECTION SECURITY] Mook: Candidates need cyber-protections (SFGate, original – Washington Post)
• [ELECTION SECURITY] Russian bots, ‘troll factory’ test waters ahead of U.S. midterms (CBC / AP)
• [TELECOM] Congress to leave Trump’s deal with China’s ZTE untouched (LA Times) 

Press Releases and Decisions (July 16-22, 2018)

Supreme Court of Canada

• [CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS] R. v. Brassington – 2018 SCC 37 – 2018-07-20
  • The appeals from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Vancouver), Numbers CA43391, CA43396 and CA43402, 2017 BCCA 84, dated February 23, 2017, and from the judgment of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Number 25813, 2015 BCSC 2001, dated November 2, 2015, heard on March 14, 2018, are allowed. The declaratory order of Wedge J. permitting disclosure of informer-privileged information is set aside. The Crown’s request for an order prohibiting the respondents from disclosing informer-privileged information to their counsel, subject to a successful “innocence at stake” application, is granted.

CRTC

• News Releases
  • Canadians are invited to share their experiences with telecommunications sales practices: CRTC launching inquiry on whether misleading or aggressive retail sales practices are used by large telecommunications service providers

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• New Zealand company’s re-use of millions of Canadian Facebook user profiles violated privacy law, investigation finds

Copyright Board Canada

• Recent Decisions
  • CBRA – Commercial and Non-Commercial Media Monitors (2017-2019)
    Reasons (July 20, 2018)
    Tariff (July 21, 2018) 

Google

• Android has created more choice, not less

 Microsoft

• Getting back to nature with AI: Why Microsoft and National Geographic Society are working together to advance conservation science with computer science
• Powering our customers: the innovation story behind Microsoft’s earnings
• ‘Magic of nature’: Disney’s smart birdhouses reveal the secret lives of purple martins
• Can AI help brewers predict how new beer varieties will taste? Carlsberg says “probably”

Twitter

• Putting people first on data portability

Facebook

• Working Together to Give People More Control of Their Data
• Facebook AI Research Expands With New Academic Collaborations
• Working to Keep Facebook Safe

Upcoming Events

Senate of Canada

• No fixed and possible Senate sitting days this week; Senate reconvenes on September 18, 2018

 Canadian House of Commons

• No fixed House of Commons sitting days this week; House reconvenes on September 17, 2018

CRTC

• Anticipated releases for the week of 23 to 27 July 2018
  • Broadcasting Decisions
    • Applications by various licensees to renew the broadcasting licences for various radio stations
    • Decision relating to the following application considered under the Commission’s Part 1 process:
    • Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
      CBYK-FM Kamloops and its transmitter CBTF-FM Falkland –Technical changes
      Public record for this application: 2018-0326-3

CRTC Open Broadcasting Proceedings

CRTC Open Telecom Proceedings