The government’s Bill C-10 would grant the government extensive new powers to bring social media and user-generated content under the regulatory control of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
This extension of scope will broaden the reach of the CRTC (which already controversially includes in its purview online streaming services such as Netflix) to now encompass videos and content uploaded by individuals to platforms such as YouTube.
While the government assures that the powers granted in the bill will only be utilized to regulate professional content, critics are warning that it represents an unprecedented assault on Canadians’ freedom of speech.
Joining this chorus of criticism is Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa professor and the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law. He discusses the contents of the bill and the detrimental consequences it will have on freedom of speech with host Daniel Proussalidis on The Long Way podcast.
“Anytime someone posts a video to Facebook or YouTube, or audio to a podcast or one of these platforms, it is treated as a program by the law and subject to CRTC regulation,” Geist explains.
“Having the broadcast regulator treat all of this other speech, legitimate speech that is protected under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, I think it has a chilling effect. In a democracy like ours, we don’t speak with permission of the state,” said Geist.
