CRTC won't regulate user-generated internet content, chair promises

The CRTC has no interest in regulating user-generated content should the Liberal government's Bill C-11 become law, CRTC chairman Ian Scott said Monday.

“It is not the focus of the CRTC. Regulating it will not be in the public interest and will not contribute to the system,” Scott said at industry conference IIC Canada.

“We have lots of things to do. We don't need to start looking at user-generated content.”

The Liberal government has maintained that its Online Streaming Act doesn't target content posted by Canadians online. The legislation sets up the CRTC to regulate online platforms with the goal of ensuring the streaming services contribute to the “creation and availability of Canadian stories and music.”

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has said that the goal is to target “big online streamers” and music on YouTube.

Critics argue the language of the bill is much broader than that, and, if passed, it would put a wide range of online content under the CRTC's authority.