NDP open to supporting bill regulating internet
The Liberal government’s controversial new amendment to its broadcasting bill that would open up user-generated content on social media platforms to government regulation could find support among some opposition parties.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Tuesday he was open to supporting the bill with the new amendment, which critics have said amounts to an attack on free expression rights.
“We will take a close look at the amendments and a close look at the bill before giving our final position,” he said, adding the NDP supports measures to target online hate. Those measures will actually be tackled in a separate bill, set to be introduced by the government soon.
The party’s deputy critic for heritage, Heather Mcpherson, said in a followup email statement that the party’s priority is to “level the playing field between the web giants and Canadian companies.” She added that the “NDP will always stand up for freedom of expression and we will ensure as this bill goes forward that the government presents a strong plan to defend it in the context of the new law.”
The aim of Bill C-10 is to strengthen the Canadian content system by ensuring the CRTC can force online streamers like Netflix to make financial contributions and follow other rules around Cancon, such as making sure a certain amount of Canadian movies and TV shows are offered to viewers. It’s a piece of a multi-pronged strategy by the Liberal government to impose new rules on Big Tech and other online services.
On Friday at the Heritage committee, the government moved to remove a section of the bill that would have exempted social media content from regulation. The removal means user-generated video content on platforms like Youtube can be regulated by the CRTC, though individual users themselves won’t be subject to regulation.
But experts said Monday the fact that government would have control over content posted by Canadians still amounts to an attack on freedom of expression, even if individual Canadians don’t have to report to the CRTC.
That distinction was enough for the Bloc Québécois. Heritage critic Martin Champoux said in a French-language statement the party would oppose the bill if it believed it infringed free expression, but that it was satisfied with an amendment exempting “users like you and me” from regulation.
The Conservatives grilled Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault on the amendment in question period Tuesday. Asked by Conservative heritage critic Alain Rayes why the government would want to “attack the freedoms of internet users on social networks,” Guilbeault pointed out Rayes himself criticized the bill in November for not initially including social media in its scope.
A spokesperson for the Conservatives said Tuesday the party opposes the amendment, and would vote against the bill even if it’s “compromise” amendment to regulate content posted by big film studios or large streamers on social media sites passes. The spokesperson said that amendment would have exempted the “content of the overwhelming majority of social media site users who post on social media sites like Youtube.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Google, which owns Youtube, said the amendment on Friday and a followup one Monday to extend regulation to apps took the company by surprise.
“Like many, we were surprised to see the Heritage Committee extend Bill C-10 to include social media and user-upload services and apps. This potentially extends CRTC regulation to all audio and audio-visual content on the Internet, which has profound implications for not just social media, but virtually all websites, podcasting, online hosting and much more,” the firm said.
“We remain concerned about the unintended consequences, particularly with regards to the potential effects on Canadians’ expressive rights.”
The amendment to allow the CRTC to regulate social media content wasn’t panned by everyone. A coalition representing the cultural sector, including associations representing the music, TV and film industries said its members were in favour.
The Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions said in an email it “welcomes the rejection of section 4.1 of Bill C-10, which would have excluded social media from the scope of the Act.”
Meanwhile, Daniel Bernhard, executive director of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, said in an interview concerns about the impact of the amendment on free expression were overblown. He pointed out the CRTC always regulated broadcasters, which includes broadcast news, and it hasn’t acted as a censor of news outlets.