Heritage committee votes to limit CRTC social media regulatory powers

The House of Commons’ Heritage Committee resumed its work on the government's update to the Broadcasting Act by narrowly voting to restrict the CRTC’s regulatory powers in respect to social media companies. On Wednesday the committee carried on with clause-by-clause amendments to the Bill C-10. There was a two week delay on its work while the committee sought out a new charter statement as well as testimony from an expert panel and the ministers of Justice and Heritage to gain clarity on the freedom of speech implications of including social media platforms in the bill. Work picked up with a debate on a government amendment, tabled by Liberal MP Juile Dabrusin earlier this month, to restrict the CRTC regulatory powers over social media platforms to financial contributions and discoverability of Canadian creators. Bloc Québécois MP Martin Champoux brought forward a sub-amendment to make the discoverability requirements specific to Canadian programs rather than content, noting that the word creator was not defined in the act. When asked to clarify the implications of passing Champoux’s sub-amendment, Heritage department’s director general of broadcasting, copyright and creative marketplace Thomas Owen Ripley told the committee that “the unit of analysis, so to speak, would shift from the individual creator or artist, to the idea of Canadian program … that is a concept that is well known and exists in the broadcasting system." “And so, it would then be given the power to impose obligations on social media services to raise the discoverability of the programs as opposed to the actual individual creators, or artists.” NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice said he was in favour of Champoux’ sub-amendment, arguing in French that “what we want for people to discover are the works -- the TV series, the films, et cetera -- that's what interests us here. We want to make sure that our stories, Quebec stories and Canadian stories, are findable online,” according to simultaneous translation. However, the committee voted down Champoux’s motion out of concern that it would bring user content under regulation. Ripley noted to the committee that the original amendment was intended to “raise the profile of Canadian artists and creators without getting into this question about the programming needed” to fit the definition of Canadian content. Champoux successfully brought forward another sub-amendment to include a line in the government’s amendments that “interpretation should be done in a way that is compatible with freedom of expression that is guaranteed to users of online services,” according to simultaneous translation. “If we are able to agree to add another layer of protection, that would be positive,” Conservative MP Alain Rayes said. The full government amendment passed 7-4, with the Conservative members of the committee all voting it down. Part of the motion is to have social media platforms subject to regulations mandating financial contributions -- one of the main reasons to include social media under the act according to the Liberals -- which raised concerns for critics of the bill, as the CRTC would have nine months after the bill passes to conduct consultations and develop the regulations to implement the legislation, meaning further financial delays for the cultural industry. On Monday, the committee heard from an expert panel of industry stakeholders and lawyers. Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, said that there were more efficient means of getting financial contributions into the Canadian cultural sector without having to compromise freedom of expression by including social media platforms in the bill. "The government's already announced that it wants to increase the taxes on tech companies, it should take some of that tax money allocated directly to the various creative programs, and in doing so there could be money this year at the time when there really is that need for money," he said. Earlier Wednesday, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault told reporters at a press conference that if Conservative “filibustering” continues, and if the bill is challenged in courts, Canadian artists will see even more delays. However, he is “actually not convinced” that the latter is going to happen. “ I think we have so much support for Bill C-10 throughout the country, from our district cultural communities, trade unions -- Unifor being the largest in the country -- but many others across the country. There's a petition that started just last week with thousands of names of artists calling on C-10 to be adopted, and it is supported by the majority of parties at the House of Commons,” he said. Guilbeault went on to say the Conservatives appear to be the only party “siding with some of the wealthiest companies in the world against Canadian artists and musicians.” When asked if the government would use other revenue sources, such as from the upcoming digital services tax, Guilbeault stated that the government already “announced hundreds of millions of dollars in support for Canadian creators and broadcasters” since 2019. “We have an extraordinary cultural scene and artistic scene in Canada, because we've given ourselves tools so that Canada doesn't just become a franchise of Hollywood, when it comes to cultural content,” he said. -- Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

Heritage committee votes to limit CRTC social media regulatory powers

News | 05/19/2021 5:52 pm EDT

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