Canada has passed a law that will allow the government to regulate audiovisual content as if it were broadcasting (which is regulated by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission—CRTC). Part of this is to force the display in social media feeds of more content deemed “Canadian.” In effect, a Canadian going to YouTube will be spammed with material the government wants them to see, rather than what they’re interested in.
The Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms released a statement on April 28: “It will fall under the CRTC’s jurisdiction to penalize any regulated entity found to be spreading misinformation (according to the CRTC’s definition of misinformation) and impose significant fines (up to $250,000 per day) for any breaches of the Act.
“The Government of Canada should not be in the business of regulated political podcasts or determining what counts as Canadian content. It should not have the power to decide what content creators or news organizations can or should create or express or report. That’s for Canadians themselves to decide.”
