The soft and wholly fallacious claims used to justify censorship (read: quash dissent and expression) find purchase in the unwillingness to combat these attempts:
A federal bill banning hurtful comments on Facebook and Twitter is necessary to avoid violent anti-government protest, says Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault. Testifying at the Commons heritage committee, Guilbeault lamented attacks on the public service and federal agencies: “Canadians are asking the government to step in.”
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The federal government will create a new regulator position to oversee the actions of online platforms in the country. The regulator will have the ability to audit what platforms are doing, as well as enforce what Guilbeault called a “Canadian code of conduct” and levy “very, very important fines” against companies that don’t comply with it.
The government, Guilbeault told me, will also introduce a 24-hour takedown notice, which would give the regulator power to compel platforms to remove material the regulator deems illegal or hateful, or that otherwise fosters radicalization, incites violence or promotes terrorist propaganda.
The key areas where Canada is moving to regulate foreign tech platforms fall into four main buckets: harmful content such as hate speech; consumer and data privacy; taxation; and broadcasting/telecom and content. It involves a number of government officials, departments, and agencies including the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry, and the Department of Finance. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and the Canada Revenue Agency are also involved.
Canadians want freedom to choose what internet content they use and enjoy, a retired Alberta broadcasting executive yesterday told the Commons heritage committee. MPs are conducting hearings on a cabinet bill proposing first-ever regulation of the internet: “Do we need controls, or do we let people decide for themselves?”
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