Canada should step up on Big Tech

TRUMP HAS STOPPED ALL TALK OF CHINA SURPASSING THE U.S. — CONRAD BLACK

Last week the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against Google over its alleged search monopoly. The move came on the heels of a Congressional committee investigation into the anticompetitive practices of the world's biggest tech firms — Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple — and is widely believed to be the U.S.'s first salvo in a long battle to rein in these global platforms.

Similar reports from our international peers, including the U.K., the E.U. and Australia, have warned that governments must urgently tackle the problems that Big Tech pose for economies and democracies everywhere. While many of these jurisdictions have taken concrete steps to rein these giants in, a question looms: what can a middle power like Canada do at home and abroad to ensure our technology is fit for democracy?

While Canada has no jurisdiction over the corporate structure of these U.S.-based tech giants, we do have other legislative tools at our disposal to promote trust online — and allies we can call upon to create new democratic safeguards for our increasingly digital work.

In December 2018, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) released its report on the democratic implications of Big Tech, Democracy Under Threat: Risks and Solutions in the Era of Disinformation and Data Monopoly. A sweeping and boldly titled report, the recommendations have largely not yet been implemented.

In May of 2019, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains released his Digital Charter, a list of 10 principles echoing the virtues of fairness, competition and accountability found in the U.S. Congressional report. Legislation to codify the Digital Charter in law has yet to be debated in the House of Commons.

In terms of federal privacy protections, new legislation was promised during last year's election, and rumours continue to swirl about when Canadians will see it. Earlier this month Canada's top privacy watchdog warned that the country's laws are insufficient to protect Canadians during a global pandemic.

While it is understandable that the pandemic may have paused a number of pressing government priorities, the power and dominance of digital platforms have only intensified due to our society's shift online.

We have never been more dependent on a handful of multinational corporations to connect with family, send our children to school, and for those of us lucky enough to work from home, maintain our livelihoods.

However, there is action on the horizon.

The federal government has signalled its desire to begin to rein in these digital platforms and apply policy objectives and regulatory frameworks to how they operate in Canada.

While some details of these plans have begun to leak out, it seems likely that a focus on enhanced privacy protections, the taxation of digital platforms and increased efforts to combat misinformation and hate speech will be among the recommendations.

Many critics have rightly raised an important issue about scale, namely, how does a mid-sized democracy like Canada make an impact on global platforms that can simply pull out of the country or absorb the cost as a rounding error on their balance sheet?

Part of the answer lies in embracing a proud Canadian tradition: rallying collective global action.

Much like the leadership role Canada has historically played in global peacekeeping, the way forward is to rally the disparate actions of our global allies into a united front to refocus these digital platforms towards values that are more compatible with modern democracy.

We see our peer nations taking action around the globe. In 2018, India banned Amazon from competing with independent sellers that rely on its marketplace platform.

The U.K. is drafting an enforceable code of conduct to bar undesirable behaviour by digital platforms.

The E.U. is finalizing public comment on a new regulatory tool that will give it

WE HAVE PLENTY OF LEGISLATIVE TOOLS AT OUR DISPOSAL.

the power to rewrite the rules of markets to foster fair competition.

Australia is working on legislation to force Facebook and Google to pay for the news content they distribute, which has led to threats of those companies pulling out of the country or removing the ability to share news content on their platforms.

It seems democracies around the world are all reaching the same conclusion at the same time — Big Tech must be reined in. However, only through international co-operation can we turn these small skirmishes into a more effective defence of democratic principles. A coalition of democratic countries singing from the same song sheet could make Big Tech sit up and take notice.

Although Canada cannot wait for a co-ordinated global response to act domestically (a good start would include implementing the ETHI Committee recommendations and updating our privacy legislation), there is an opportunity in front of us to take a leadership position.

In the same way that Canada brought together the world to ban landmines, protect the Earth's ozone layer, or lead the world on sanctions against apartheid in South Africa, the time is now to leverage the country's global reputation as an honest broker and leader in innovation to ensure technology enhances democracy rather than undermining it.