Home Page News Briefs People Media Telecom Archives About Us GET FREE NEWS UPDATES
Advertising Subscribe Reuse & Permissions
The Hill Times Parliament Now The Lobby Monitor HTCareers

TAGGED AS SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media companies sued by school boards in Ontario

Internet and Governance | 03/28/2024 5:12 pm EDT

TikTok's logo on an iPhone.Four Ontario school boards have launched a lawsuit against three social media giants for disrupting learning and the education system. The action was announced Thursday morning. The Toronto District School Board, the Peel District School Board, the Toronto Catholic...

Social media companies must be compelled to address safety concerns, research chair tells ethics committee

Internet and Governance | 11/28/2023 6:07 pm EST

The government needs to set clear standards of transparency and accountability that all social media platforms should be required to meet, if it hopes to address concerns...

Education key to combating foreign interference on social media, ETHI hears

Internet and Governance | 11/21/2023 5:12 pm EST

Canadians need to be educated about the dangers posed by foreign actors...

Facebook use remains constant despite news ban

Internet and Governance | 08/29/2023 4:45 pm EDT

Meta Platforms Inc. has not experienced any notable drop in Facebook usage despite banning news content...

Feds earmark $5.5 million to fight disinformation

Internet and Governance | 06/07/2023 5:59 pm EDT

The federal government is spending $5.5 million to create the Canadian Digital Media Research Network...

Facebook blocking threat “unacceptable”, Rodriguez states

Internet and Governance | 06/02/2023 2:17 pm EDT

Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez is not impressed by Meta...

OPC appeals court Facebook decision 

Internet and Governance | 05/15/2023 3:31 pm EDT

The federal Office of the Privacy Commissioner has filed notice that it intends to appeal last month's decision from the Federal Court striking down its challenge to Facebook's data collection practices.  In a notice of appeal filed with the court on Friday, the OPC...

Senators continue fight over Streaming Act and CBC’s future

Media | 02/08/2023 1:22 pm EST

The battle over the government’s Online Streaming Act, Bill C-11,...

Gov. announces $1.2m in misinformation research funding

Internet and Governance | 01/11/2023 3:22 pm EST

The federal government Wednesday announced that the department of Canadian...

Ministers vow to monitor American proposals on TikTok

Media | 12/15/2022 2:03 pm EST

The ministers most responsible for telecom and broadcasting policy in Canada are pledging to follow...

CRTC must hold public hearings for interim exemption orders in Online News Act

Media | 11/29/2022 7:02 pm EST

The House of Commons Heritage committee passed an amendment to the...

Rodriguez urges senators to pass Online Streaming Act

Media | 11/22/2022 8:17 pm EST

Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez and members of his department were the final witnesses as the...

Broadcasters want policy direction on C-11; streamers want their algorithms left alone

Media | 09/15/2022 7:51 pm EDT

Canadian broadcasting executives, from companies...

Gov. announced 11 projects, with $2.4M funding, to combat disinformation

Internet and Governance | 07/21/2022 4:11 pm EDT

The ministers of Canadian Heritage and Intergovernmental Affairs,...

Scott says platforms may be asked to ‘manipulate’ algorithms for Canadian discoverability 

Media | 06/23/2022 10:49 am EDT

The CRTC chair has said that social media platforms may have to change their algorithms to promote Canadian content online if the Online Streaming Act passes, despite there...

Gov. tables three-headed private sector privacy reform bill

Media | 06/16/2022 5:45 pm EDT

Touting it as a "historic day" at an afternoon press conference, Innovation...

Scott says CRTC will never regulate user-generated content under current Bill C-11 

Media | 04/05/2022 3:30 pm EDT

The CRTC is generally supportive of Bill C-11, the revised broadcasting...

Hate groups need legislative stops on fundraising, security committee hears

Media | 03/31/2022 7:50 pm EDT

Extremist groups are able to propagate their message and raise funds because Canada does not have legislation that prevents it, the House Committee on Public Safety and...

Bill C-11 a new bill with no new ideas, and a ‘legal pretzel’ for censorship: CPC

Media | 03/01/2022 5:05 pm EST

For the second time in the span of a year, the...

Google says Canada pursuing unique approach to news compensation

Media | 02/23/2022 5:55 pm EST

Canada’s pending news media compensation legislation is based on key...

Witnesses raise issues with Senate bill restricting youth online access to porn

Internet and Governance | 02/10/2022 2:03 pm EST

Internet and criminal justice experts sounded the alarm on a proposed...

Gov. reintroduces Broadcasting Act update, with social media exemption

Media | 02/02/2022 7:32 pm EST

OTTAWA -- Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodríguez called previous...

New Broadcast Act update appears on order paper as Tories oppose move

Internet and Governance | 02/01/2022 6:05 pm EST

The government placed legislation to change the Broadcasting Act on the...

Hedy Fry new chair of Heritage committee

Media | 12/13/2021 5:43 pm EST

OTTAWA – Veteran Liberal MP Hedy Fry was elected chair of the House of Commons committee on Canadian...

Successor bill to C-10 “absolute priority”, Rodriguez says

Media | 11/23/2021 11:50 am EST

Canadian Heritage minister Pablo Rodriguez says revisions to the Broadcasting Act will be reintroduced as soon as possible. Any new legislation would replace Bill C-10 from the last Parliament, which died on the order paper when the election was called. Speaking in...

Broadcasting regulation debate at electoral standstill as advocates, industry react

Media | 09/14/2021 7:16 pm EDT

According to an advocacy group opposing restrictions on the internet,...

Ontario privacy watchdog says province should update privacy law, even without feds

Media | 09/07/2021 5:59 pm EDT

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC)...

Heritage launches consultation on digital platform revenue sharing for news sector

Media | 08/03/2021 6:03 pm EDT

Canadian Heritage is seeking input on how best to compensate the news...

Senate begins C-10 analysis with broad debate 

Media | 06/24/2021 10:41 am EDT

Senators are looking beyond the free speech issues raised by critics of the revised Broadcasting Act and...

NDP, advocates, call for action against exploitative content on porn sites; report heading to parliament

Media | 06/15/2021 5:07 pm EDT

Canada has laws that would hold companies accountable for allowing non-consensual sexual content on their platforms, but the government needs to put them into action,...

C-10 headed to HoC; Bloc adds 5 year review of act

Media | 06/11/2021 6:10 pm EDT

A debate which Canadian Heritage Committee chair Scott Simms has jokingly said was “so exciting we...

NDP says Libs are to blame for C-10 delays as HoC passes ‘gag order’

Media | 06/07/2021 6:26 pm EDT

The Liberals and the Bloc Québécois cooperated to pass a motion in the...

Judge grants Facebook evidence request in proposed class action

Media | 05/31/2021 6:05 pm EDT

A Quebec judge has ruled that Facebook Inc. can bring forward evidence the company believes will assist it in challenging a proposed class-action lawsuit.  Facebook has been accused by an...

Conservative attempt to reintroduce C-10 social media exclusion fails

Media | 05/31/2021 5:48 pm EDT

The federal government’s Canadian Heritage Committee is holding firm on plans to subject social media to broadcasting regulations after it voted down a proposed amendment from the Conservative Party...

CRTC chair asserts personal preference for facilities-based competition

telecom | 05/20/2021 5:59 pm EDT

CRTC chair Ian Scott said he believes the commission’s pick of a...

Heritage and Justice ministers to appear before CHPC to address charter concerns

Media | 05/10/2021 6:25 pm EDT

The House of Commons’ Heritage Committee is moving forward with a charter...

Libs support C-10 charter review, but after full revision of bill: Dabrusin

Media | 05/03/2021 6:29 pm EDT

The Conservative party is “falsely accusing” the government of wanting...

Regulator needed to deal with tech-facilitated gender violence: report

Media | 04/30/2021 12:03 pm EDT

Canada should establish a centralized expert regulator for technology-facilitated gender-based violence, abuse and harassment (TFGBV), as current legislation fails to protect...

Experts question effectiveness of online harm regulator

Media | 03/31/2021 6:03 pm EDT

Panelists reflecting Wednesday on Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault’s...

Facebook’s Australian news blockade won’t deter us: Guilbeault

Media | 02/18/2021 4:50 pm EST

The day after Facebook Inc. made good on its threat to block all news from...

Bloc pushes for web giants to support Canadian media

Media | 02/17/2021 5:10 pm EST

The Bloc Québécois is pushing the federal government to take “urgent” action to support local media by imposing new taxes on web giants such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc.  In the House of Commons Wednesday, Bloc Heritage critic Martin Champoux sought unanimous consent on a motion for the government to act.  The motion, translated from French, asked that the House to “recognize the inequity between web giants and our media when it comes to advertising income on various digital platforms and that it asks the government to take action urgently in order to create a...

MPs highlight need for more regulation, enforcement of social media platforms in Canada 

Media | 02/11/2021 5:23 pm EST

In a Friends of Canadian Broadcasting panel on Thursday, MPs from the three major parties indicated support for additional regulations and enforcement to manage threats of...

Gov’t tables PIPEDA reform, new consumer privacy legislation

Media | 11/17/2020 5:54 pm EST

The federal government introduced sweeping private-sector privacy law...

OPC failed to observe ‘bedrock rules of evidence’ in court: Facebook

Media | 10/27/2020 10:33 am EDT

Facebook Inc. is asking a judge to throw out significant chunks of an...

Back to Parliament: your (pandemic) preview

Media | 09/22/2020 12:43 pm EDT

TrudeuCabinetRetreat2020Given the precarious situation around the now-escalating COVID-19 pandemic, what will actually be...

Canadian law should codify privacy as a human right: OPC

Media | 12/10/2019 6:05 pm EST

OTTAWA — Federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien told reporters...

AIQ investigation shows need for strong privacy laws, OPC says

Media | 11/26/2019 6:22 pm EST

At a Vancouver press conference Tuesday, the federal and British Columbia...

Facebook to lobby feds on digital services tax after election promises

Media | 11/21/2019 5:34 pm EST

Facebook Inc. has registered to lobby the federal government on “proposed...

Twitter lobbying on feds’ internet ad policy

Media | 11/18/2019 4:38 pm EST

Twitter Inc. has registered to lobby the federal government on its internet advertising policy, following the social media company’s ban on political ads on its platform globally. The registration, effective November 1, seeks...

Green Party platform: no anonymous social media, 5G rollout on hold

telecom | 09/16/2019 5:14 pm EDT

The Green Party election platform includes promises to ensure only individuals whose identities have been verified can set up social media accounts and indicates a Green...

‘Deepfakes’ could trigger election security alert, gov’t officials say

Media | 07/09/2019 4:50 pm EDT

Artificial intelligence technology allowing videos to be seamlessly...

Twitter bans pre-election political advertising

Media | 06/26/2019 6:20 pm EDT

Ending several months of uncertainty and speculations, Twitter Inc. has declared that it will join Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft Corp.’s Bing search engine in not selling any political advertisements in Canada in the...

International legislators flag regulatory options for data giants

Media | 05/29/2019 6:01 pm EDT

OTTAWA - Legislators on Tuesday gave some sense of what regulatory options...

Gov’t needs interaction with tech specialists, conference hears

Media | 05/28/2019 4:43 pm EDT

OTTAWA — For the Canadian government to be more effective at legislating on issues including social media and internet of things (IoT) technology, it needs to communicate with technology specialists...

Tech giants agree to ‘voluntary’ set of principles: Gould

Media | 05/27/2019 5:45 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have both signed on to a declaration of principles around the promotion of electoral integrity online, aimed at combatting the spread of disinformation on social media sites in the run up to the 2019 federal election....

Experts say there is no road map for a Facebook-OPC court fight

Media | 05/01/2019 4:17 pm EDT

If the Office of the Privacy Commissioner takes Facebook Inc. to Federal...

OPC will ask court to force changes to Facebook privacy practices

Media | 04/25/2019 5:47 pm EDT

OTTAWA — The Office of the Privacy Commissioner said Thursday it is...

Microsoft adds elections to lobbying file

telecom | 04/24/2019 6:29 pm EDT

The tech giant Microsoft Corp. last week added “elections” to its lobbying files. The move comes as the government rolls out a new regime governing the selling of political ads on tech platforms ahead of this fall’s...

Twitter registers social media education on lobby files

Media | 04/15/2019 4:05 pm EDT

Twitter Inc. has added a timely subject matter to its lobby files: educating federal officials on social media use during elections. The social media company updated its files last week to include...

Google won’t run political ads in 2019 election

Media | 03/05/2019 4:01 pm EST

Alphabet Inc.’s search giant Google plans to ban political advertising from its platforms during the next federal election campaign in Canada, following the introduction of tougher political advertising transparency rules by...

Facebook ‘not aware’ of Canadian applicants for data research program

Media | 03/01/2019 1:41 pm EST

Despite heightened interest in the impact of social media on Canadian elections, Facebook Inc. said it has not heard of any Canadian institutions that have applied to view the social media giant’s...

Gov’t trending toward requiring online platforms to remove content: Gould

Media | 02/27/2019 10:32 am EST

OTTAWA -- Democratic institutions minister Karina Gould said the government...

Majority supports fining social media for not removing fake news: CIRA poll

Media | 02/19/2019 4:50 pm EST

A majority of Canadian internet users say the federal government should impose fines or other sanctions on social media companies that don’t remove fake news from their platforms, according to...

Don’t exclude online services from Broadcasting Act: Private radio

Media | 02/04/2019 12:00 pm EST

Canada’s private radio broadcasters are fighting against a push to keep online services out of Canada’s broadcast laws, according to a submission sent to the Liberal...

Ottawa taps team to warn of foreign digital interference in elections

Media | 01/30/2019 3:49 pm EST

OTTAWA — The Liberal government has set up a new alert protocol and...

Be ‘wary’ of regulating online speech: Facebook

Media | 01/22/2019 5:57 pm EST

While online misinformation needs to be taken seriously, that doesn’t...

CRTC tells wireless providers to offer message relay services

Media | 12/14/2018 3:27 pm EST

Wireless operators will have to begin offering message relay services (MRS) by June 2019, the CRTC said Friday. Message relay serves customers with a hearing or speech disability by allowing them...

Ethics committee calls for new social media rules

Media | 12/11/2018 7:27 pm EST

OTTAWA — A House of Commons committee is unanimously calling for new rules for social media companies...

Election 2019 still ripe for opinion-shaping, CSE says

Media | 12/06/2018 3:46 pm EST

OTTAWA — Efforts to stanch online misinformation campaigns will not eliminate the very real situation that may see Canadians fall victim to attempts to influence their political opinions, the Canadian Security Establishment said in its cyber threat assessment Thursday. “Although major web platforms are making efforts to curb the negative effects of manipulative information sharing, the opinions of Canadians will remain an attractive target for cyber threat actors seeking to influence Canada’s democratic processes,” the CSE said Thursday. That view came from a national cyber...

Ontario’s increasing social media advertising worries AG

Media | 12/05/2018 5:25 pm EST

Ontario’s auditor general is raising concerns about a legal "loophole"...

Public Policy Forum to track online disinformation

Media | 11/29/2018 3:13 pm EST

Ottawa-based think tank the Public Policy Forum says it’s launching a new project to track, analyze and eventually find a way to counter "fake news." It’s digital democracy project will start by studying the effects of...

Political parties ‘bumbling rubes’ on data: CPC campaign chair

Media | 11/20/2018 4:58 pm EST

OTTAWA —  The head of the Conservative Party’s 2019 national election...

Ottawa paid $2K settlement after consulate shared copyrighted image

Media | 11/16/2018 5:11 pm EST

The federal government paid a $2,000 settlement to a Barrie, Ontario photographer, according to the 2018 public accounts, because bureaucrats shared a copyrighted image on a government Facebook page....

Facebook to cooperate with French regulators on pilot project

Media | 11/13/2018 4:26 pm EST

The French government will work with Facebook Inc. on a new initiative to...

Zuckerberg declines joint Canada-UK committee appearance

Media | 11/07/2018 1:50 pm EST

Facebook Inc.’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has declined a joint-request by...

Most Canadians concerned with ‘fake news’ in next election: MTM

Media | 10/30/2018 5:55 pm EDT

Photo via Pxhere showing laptop with fake newsA year away from the next federal election, a majority of Canadians are...

Google Canada on the defense over Google+, Sidewalk Labs

Media | 10/23/2018 5:57 pm EDT

Colin McKay, head of public policy and government relations for Alphabet Inc.’s Google Canada, faced critical questions about his parent company’s activities from MPs of all political stripes on Tuesday. McKay was appearing at the House ethics committee, as part of...

OPC inquiring about Google+ leak

Media | 10/10/2018 2:34 pm EDT

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) said it is gathering more information about whether the personal information of Canadians was implicated in a leak involving an Alphabet Inc. social network. “Google has contacted...

Facebook launches political campaign security pilot

Media | 09/18/2018 3:52 pm EDT

Facebook Inc. will introduce a pilot project aimed at securing election campaigns for the United States midterm elections this fall. The company said in a blog post that past elections have shown that candidates, politicians...

Facebook to fact-check photos, videos

Media | 09/17/2018 11:11 am EDT

Facebook Inc. is adding verification of photos and videos to its fact-checking of content on its social...

Facebook makes Watch video service available world-wide

Media | 08/30/2018 4:33 pm EDT

In a blog post on Wednesday, Facebook Inc. announced the global launch of...

Social media threats challenge gov’t, platforms ahead of election

Media | 08/30/2018 3:12 pm EDT

In the three years since the last Canadian federal election, emerging technologies such as automated bots have rapidly evolved to make it easier to spread misinformation on...

72% of anglophone Canadians on social media: MTM

Media | 08/10/2018 12:36 pm EDT

According to a recent report from the CBC/Radio-Canada Media Technology Monitor (MTM) project, 72 per cent of English-speaking Canadians have used a social networking service in the past month, with just over half of those using...

Twitter lobbying on online ads in wake of proposed elections bill

Media | 07/09/2018 1:17 pm EDT

Twitter Inc. wants to make sure the government understands how online...

Petition calls for empowered agency to compel deletion of false ads

telecom | 06/20/2018 6:10 pm EDT

Thousands of Canadians have signed  separate petitions created by Democracy Watch, with one calling for a strengthening of the elections law body that could compel media sites to remove false ads....

Canadians using multiple devices, but adoption leveling off: MTM

Media | 06/08/2018 6:29 pm EDT

According to the latest data from CBC/Radio-Canada’s Media Technology Monitoring (MTM) project, 35 per cent of English-speaking internet users in Canada continue to own four types of electronic...

Too many emergency alerts could lead to ignorance: telecom consultant

Media | 06/06/2018 12:14 pm EDT

TORONTO — An amber alert that resulted in three emergency texts sent to...

Corus set to launch short-form content series on Twitter

Media | 06/01/2018 4:59 pm EDT

Corus Entertainment Inc. is partnering with Twitter Inc. to bring...

AggregateIQ denies whistleblower claims to ethics committee

telecom | 04/24/2018 5:39 pm EDT

OTTAWA — The heads of West Coast-based software developer AggregateIQ...

Changes coming to Facebook advertising programs: eMarketer

Media | 04/23/2018 8:36 pm EDT

Advertisers on Facebook Inc. should expect changes — like less reliance on third-party data and better consent tools — to the platform after the privacy breach revelations this spring, says...

MPs unsatisfied with Facebook testimony, mull further regulations

Media | 04/19/2018 4:51 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Testimony from Facebook Inc. representatives at the House ethics committee Thursday left some MPs frustrated by answers to a range of issues, including the kind of...