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Government unveils final provisions of Online News Act
Internet and Governance | 12/15/2023 5:30 pm EST
The federal government released the details of the implementation of the Online News Act Friday. It outlined how money from social media giants will be distributed to Canadian news organizations.
Currently the rules apply only to Alphabet Inc.’s Google search engine,...
Corus proposes contribution framework at CRTC, says time to regulate streamers is now
Internet and Governance | 11/30/2023 11:13 am EST
Those who stand to benefit from the Online Streaming Act want the CRTC to act as quickly as it can while those who may be forced to pay are urging caution. The commission is...
Google and federal government reach deal over Online News Act
Internet and Governance | 11/29/2023 7:51 pm EST
Alphabet Inc.’s Google and the federal government have resolved their...
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...
PKP proposes 20 per cent base contribution for foreign online platforms at CRTC hearings
Media | 11/21/2023 4:59 am EST
The long-awaited hearing on how the CRTC should...
Northern communities are being ill-served by Meta blocking news: Sen. Klyne
Internet and Governance | 11/01/2023 3:46 pm EDT
Northern communities are being ill-served by Meta Platforms Inc.’s...
AI a potential foreign security threat, Ethics committee tells House
Internet and Governance | 10/25/2023 5:35 pm EDT
A Parliamentary committee is calling for checks of artificial intelligence use by foreign actors and holding online platforms accountable for false or misleading information....
Meta’s fight with feds impacts emergency info sharing for southwestern Ont. municipality
Internet and Governance | 09/13/2023 5:46 pm EDT
The Online News Act standoff between the federal...
Money allocation main issue as Streaming Act replies filed to CRTC
Internet and Governance | 08/02/2023 5:11 pm EDT
Battles over money and how to allocate it are at the forefront as the CRTC...
Feds respond to tech giants’ concerns through proposed regulations
Internet and Governance | 07/11/2023 5:14 pm EDT
Canadian Heritage is proposing regulations under the Online News Act that...
Feds, Cogeco, Quebecor, say goodbye to Meta
Internet and Governance | 07/05/2023 5:54 pm EDT
The federal government, Quebecor Inc., and Cogeco Inc., are pulling all their advertising investments...
Google confirms removal of Canadian news links
Internet and Governance | 06/30/2023 12:00 am EDT
Alphabet Inc.’s Google has announced it will be removing Canadian news links from its websites.
The...
Trudeau says Meta’s behaviour is unacceptable
Media | 06/13/2023 7:29 pm EDT
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Meta Platforms Inc.’s move to block news content on its platform is...
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...
Facebook’s refusal to send witnesses angers Heritage committee
Internet and Governance | 05/08/2023 5:41 pm EDT
Sir Nicholas Clegg’s reversal of an agreement to appear before the House...
Google, Facebook determined to stop news sharing should C-18 pass as currently drafted
Internet and Governance | 05/04/2023 11:23 am EDT
With Bill C-18, the Government's plan to have news organizations negotiate rates of compensation with internet platforms, before the Senate for review, Alphabet Inc.'s Google...
C-18 different task than C-11: CRTC officials
Internet and Governance | 05/02/2023 4:28 pm EDT
The chair of the Senate's Transport and Communications committee Tuesday expressed annoyance that as the...
Senate begins oversight of Online News Act
Internet and Governance | 04/25/2023 6:08 pm EDT
The government’s Online News Act will not regulate the media nor will it require internet users to pay...
Rodriguez not worried about Biden lobbying against online bills
Internet and Governance | 03/23/2023 3:24 pm EDT
Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez says he is not worried that...
CRTC must hold public hearings for interim exemption orders in Online News Act
Internet and Governance | 11/29/2022 7:02 pm EST
The House of Commons Heritage committee passed an amendment to the...
Consultation will be held for exemption under Bill C-18, committee votes down amendment to force negotiation with all outlets
Media | 11/25/2022 4:56 pm EST
The committee studying the Online News Act unanimously voted to include a clause in Bill C-18 that would ensure that the CRTC can hold public consultations regarding...
Tories slow down C-18 clause-by-clause consideration with amendments
Media | 11/22/2022 3:23 pm EST
The House of Commons’ Heritage Committee’s clause-by-clause review of...
Heritage Committee hears final witnesses on Online News Act
Media | 11/04/2022 5:50 pm EDT
Canada’s Online News Act could serve as a template for countries around...
Facebook denounces Online News Act as it finally appears at committee
Media | 10/28/2022 6:02 pm EDT
Meta Platforms Inc., parent company of Facebook, came out swinging against...
Facebook threatens to leave Canada, MP wants it to testify on C-18
Media | 10/25/2022 4:08 pm EDT
OTTAWA–Meta Platforms Inc., parent company of Facebook, is so upset that...
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...
C-11 heads to Senate, over Conservative objections, after passing third reading in the House of Commons
Media | 06/21/2022 6:15 pm EDT
With the NDP and the Bloc Québécois supporting...
Scott is wrong to think the CRTC can handle C-11: former CRTC vice-chair; Unifor wants local news fund added
Media | 05/24/2022 5:44 pm EDT
Former CRTC vice-chair Peter Menzies has claimed...
Online harms panel looking to adopt U.K’s duty of care model, won’t prioritize freedom of expression: Co-chair
Internet and Governance | 05/17/2022 5:10 pm EDT
Canada’s online harms panelists are looking at...
Comp. laws are too focused on price: Lawson Hunter
Media | 05/16/2022 7:21 pm EDT
Canada's competition laws have become too sensitive to price, particularly in mergers, and should instead focus more on the role of innovation and change, according to a Canadian competition and regulatory lawyer.
Lawson Hunter, a former senior civil servant involved in...
Tories put forward motion to kill Bill C-18, send “subject matter” to committee
Media | 05/13/2022 5:12 pm EDT
Conservative MP John Nater wants the Liberal government to withdraw its...
Tory MP attacks government for advertising on foreign media instead of local
Media | 05/05/2022 4:41 pm EDT
Conservative MP Martin Shields castigated the government for advertising on...
Facebook lied in Security Committee: Rodriguez
Media | 04/27/2022 4:28 pm EDT
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has said the Government is not backing down from its legislative effort...
Facebook doesn’t rule out blocking news content if C-18 passes, docs reveal telecom opposition to online harms framework
Internet and Governance | 04/26/2022 5:43 pm EDT
Representatives of Twitter Inc. and Meta Platforms...
UPDATED: Gov. launches Online News Act, will mandate bargaining between outlets and web giants for compensation
Media | 04/05/2022 1:06 pm EDT
New legislation from the Government of Canada will mandate negotiations between news organizations and global web giants like Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, in...
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...
NDP and Bloc support C-11, with concerns; Conservatives will seek to amend at committee
Media | 02/17/2022 12:30 pm EST
Members of Parliament from the Bloc Québécois...
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...
Google expands News Showcase program
Media | 10/27/2021 12:37 pm EDT
Alphabet Inc.'s Google is expanding its News Showcase program, announcing Wednesday that it has signed...
NDP MP wants Libs to take Facebook to task over whistleblower claims
Media | 10/18/2021 6:30 pm EDT
NDP MP Charlie Angus is calling on the incoming Liberal cabinet to...
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,...
BTLR’s Yale encouraged by Australian news compensation model; too reliant on big tech, says OpenMedia
Media | 07/06/2021 6:18 pm EDT
An initiative explored this past month in a Senate...
Guilbeault setting guidelines for diverse content online
Media | 06/30/2021 4:17 pm EDT
In order to encourage more diverse content online, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault has released a guiding document with recommendations on how to foster diversity in cultural content, information and news.
Guilbeault put out the “Guiding Principles on Diversity of...
Google signs licensing deals with multiple Canadian news outlets
Media | 06/24/2021 4:23 pm EDT
Following a similar announcement from Facebook Inc. and promises from Heritage Minister Stephen Guilbeault to introduce legislation requiring compensation for news organizations’ content appearing on online platforms, Alphabet Inc.’s Google announced Thursday it has signed agreements with several Canadian news...
Copyright reform not the best way forward for journalism remuneration: S-225 witnesses
Media | 06/18/2021 5:07 pm EDT
Experts in the journalism industry are not in...
Federal Court judge strikes elements of key-OPC affidavit in Facebook case
Media | 06/16/2021 5:02 pm EDT
A federal court judge has ruled on motions from both sides of a court...
News advocacy group calls for action on content compensation legislation
Media | 06/09/2021 5:33 pm EDT
A group representing news outlets in Canada has put out a call to Premier...
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 individual identified as CD -- who has sought leave of the court to bring forward a class action suit against the social media giant -- of hosting pages that allow people to publicly and anonymously denounce others with allegations of harassment or sexual assault. According to justice Martin Sheehan’s May 25 decision, CD claims that people who run the pages publish names of purported abusers as...
CIRA poll finds Canadians support new privacy laws and cyber attack prevention measures
Media | 05/26/2021 6:19 pm EDT
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority...
ISED triples spectrum available for Wi-Fi
telecom | 05/19/2021 5:59 pm EDT
The federal government is making more spectrum available to increase competition, rural connectivity and the effective deployment of Wi-Fi and 5G technologies. On Wednesday, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry...
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...
Conservatives oppose C-10; watchdog Friends says criticism of exemption removal ‘overblown’
Media | 04/27/2021 2:56 pm EDT
The Conservatives “continue to oppose” Bill...
Heritage committee wants Zuckerberg’s answers
Media | 03/29/2021 7:53 pm EDT
During a hearing on Facebook, Inc.’s relationship with the federal government Monday, multiple members...
Local news funding needed in C-10: Bell
Media | 03/22/2021 6:07 pm EDT
As the House of Commons Heritage committee hearings on the government's proposed update to the...
Telecoms split on ISED’s proposed approach to opening 6 GHz band
telecom | 03/02/2021 5:20 pm EST
The federal government’s proposal to open up the 6 GHz spectrum band for WiFi use has received broad support in an Industry, Science and Economic Development Canada consultation. Every...
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...
Official language minority groups ask to be included in Broadcasting Act overhaul
Media | 02/01/2021 5:44 pm EST
The government’s draft legislation to reform Canada’s Broadcasting Act must be amended to explicitly include official language minority communities, stakeholders told the House of Commons heritage committee Monday, during its first hearing into Bill C-10. Representatives of the Fédération culturelle...
Court should strike portions of OPC affidavit: Facebook
Media | 01/21/2021 6:30 pm EST
On the second day of a preliminary hearing into a dispute between Facebook and the federal privacy watchdog Thursday, the social media giant presented arguments to a Federal Court judge that the court...
Facebook, OPC square off in court over Cambridge Analytica report
Media | 01/20/2021 5:05 pm EST
The motto of Facebook Inc. is, famously, "move fast and break things." ...
Sales tax for foreign digital services coming July 1
Media | 11/30/2020 6:07 pm EST
The federal government plans to begin imposing sales taxes on foreign digital services on July 1, 2021 and to implement a corporate tax for digital companies by 2022, according to its fall economic update released Monday.
It said the July 1 timeline “will provide time...
CRTC to have ‘roughly nine months’ to act on Broadcasting Act update
Media | 11/03/2020 11:11 am EST
The Liberal government’s long-awaited update to the Broadcasting Act...
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...
Production sector to receive $50M in gov’t insurance support
Media | 09/25/2020 4:52 pm EDT
Independent producers will be able to access a $50 million insurance...
Back to Parliament: your (pandemic) preview
Media | 09/22/2020 12:43 pm EDT
Given the precarious situation around the now-escalating COVID-19 pandemic, what will actually be...
Guilbeault doubles down on web giant legislation plans
Media | 09/03/2020 5:06 pm EDT
Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault Wednesday denounced what he called...
COVID has accelerated media ‘crisis’: report
Media | 08/26/2020 5:17 pm EDT
Canadian traditional media sources are in "crisis" as COVID-19 has exacerbated existing downward trends in advertising revenues, with shortfalls for local private broadcasters in the next two years...
Gov’t to introduce web giant, CanCon, news legislation in fall: Guilbeault
Media | 06/16/2020 3:00 pm EDT
Legislation modernizing Canada’s Broadcasting Act is “pretty much...
Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation survives court appeal
Media | 06/05/2020 5:03 pm EDT
The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld the constitutionality of Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, commonly known as CASL. In a decision released Friday, the court dismissed an appeal that sought to challenge the constitutionality of the anti-spam legislation. The appeal, brought by a company doing business as...
‘Public outreach’ needed for ‘progress’ on encryption backdoors: gov’t doc
telecom | 05/26/2020 11:42 am EDT
In order to make “progress” on the issue of access to encrypted communications, the federal government will have to reach out to the public and try to bring stakeholders...
Facebook to pay $9 million to Competition Bureau after investigation
telecom | 05/19/2020 4:19 pm EDT
Facebook Inc. must pay a $9 million penalty to the Competition Bureau after making "false or misleading claims" about the privacy of personal information on the main Facebook platform and its...
Facebook targets procedural fairness at OPC in court filing
Media | 04/27/2020 5:16 pm EDT
Facebook Inc.'s request that Federal Court throw out a report from the...
Canada could track COVID-19 through cellphones: experts
telecom | 03/20/2020 3:25 pm EDT
As reports emerge of countries around the world using cellphone location...
OPC takes Facebook to Federal Court
telecom | 02/06/2020 2:17 pm EST
The Office the Privacy Commissioner has filed a much-anticipated notice of application in Federal Court...
Confusion over Guilbeault remarks on BTLR online news recs
Media | 02/03/2020 1:27 pm EST
OTTAWA — On Monday Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, with some help from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, walked back comments he made over the weekend to CTV News regarding licensing of online news, following the recommendations of an expert panel that news websites 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...
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...
U.S. trade organizations upset over proposed digital tax
Media | 11/15/2019 4:09 pm EST
In a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic and foreign affairs teams, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 14 other organizations have told the American government that they are concerned...
Privacy commissioners call for updated privacy law
telecom | 11/11/2019 5:58 pm EST
In a joint resolution, passed in Prince Edward Island last month and announced in Gatineau last week, federal, provincial and territorial information and privacy commissioners are calling on their respective governments to...
Consensus on ‘digital giants,’ data breaches in French debate
Media | 10/10/2019 11:57 pm EDT
Federal party leaders agreed Thursday evening in the last debate of the...
OECD seeks unified tax regime for web giants
telecom | 10/10/2019 5:49 pm EDT
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development will host a public consultation next month on its proposed “unified approach” to the taxation of the world’s biggest tech companies. A document released by the...
Political parties’ use of Facebook Pixel violates CASL, CDR says
telecom | 10/08/2019 2:23 pm EDT
The Centre for Digital Rights, the non-profit founded by former BlackBerry Ltd. co-CEO Jim Balsillie, is asking the CRTC to agree that political parties engage in what is effectively commercial...
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...
Local Quebec radio groups want more gov’t ads
Media | 09/12/2019 5:25 pm EDT
Two local Quebec radio groups representing around 60 stations in the province are asking the provincial...
Government seeking crowdsourced spectrum usage data
telecom | 08/29/2019 5:10 pm EDT
As major spectrum auctions considered important for 5G networks grow nearer, Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) wants to know more about how spectrum is used in Canada, and is looking at Victoria, B.C.-based...
Jordan Banks appointed president of Rogers Media
Media | 07/29/2019 5:30 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc.’s media division has appointed Jordan Banks as president, effective September 9, according to a Monday press release. Banks will replace Rick Brace, who was president since 2015 and will retire from Rogers at the end of this year. “Banks’s mandate will include overseeing the current $2 billion Rogers Media...
‘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...
Privacy breach reports up five-fold: OPC
Media | 06/19/2019 4:37 pm EDT
Since new regulations requiring the reporting of data and privacy breaches under Canadian privacy law came into effect last November, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner has seen a five-fold increase in reports of privacy breaches. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) was updated in November to require organizations to perform risk assessments after breaches of user data. If a “real risk of significant harm” is identified, the organization must report the breach to the OPC and affected users as soon as possible. The new rules were subsequently...
Change safe harbour exemptions in Copyright Act, industry committee says
Media | 06/04/2019 6:27 pm EDT
The House industry committee is asking the Heritage committee to study...
Data anonymization network launches amid privacy concerns
Media | 05/31/2019 6:24 pm EDT
A consortium of data stewards launched an informal network last week that looks to promote the anonymization of personal information in Canada in the wake of data privacy concerns sweeping 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...
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...
Cogeco calling for radio representation on tax credit panel
Media | 05/22/2019 5:25 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. is lobbying the government to help Canadian radio news...
Digital rights group studying privacy policies of political parties
Media | 05/15/2019 6:01 pm EDT
The Centre for Digital Rights has hired new lobbyists to help it research...
Ethics committee grills Google over political ads decision
Media | 05/10/2019 2:31 pm EDT
OTTAWA — In an at-times tense hearing of the House of Commons ethics committee, executives from the Canada office of Alphabet Inc.’s Google made the case that the company was technologically...
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 turning to Federal Court to force Facebook Inc. to improve its privacy practises, after it found the...