The Great Firewall of Canada: Bill C-11.
After years of parliamentary scrutiny and pushback from the opposition and people, the Trudeau government has passed the hotly contested "Bill C-11". Even upon passing into law, the bill has continued to fuel nationwide debate. In law, it is now known as the Online Streaming Act. Despite its seemingly innocuous name, this law will have far-reaching implications for the future of Canadians. The bill represents the most significant change to the Canadian Broadcasting Act since the early 1990s when digital media consumption was still in its infancy. As a result, the passage of this bill will profoundly impact how Canadians consume information in the years to come. Critics of the bill have expressed concerns in many realms of importance. However, the most pressing problem is regarding the government's potential censorship powers, a particularly troubling issue in a world increasingly reliant on technology.
The Trudeau government passed their bill into law on April 27th, 2023. They did so rushedly, and almost eager to pass the heavily-contested bill, they poured a considerable amount of time and resources into defending themselves from both political rivals and their own citizens. Usually, under standard Canadian legal proceedings, a passed bill would have Royal Assent granted to become law. However, in particular circumstances, the government can have a Supreme Court judge sign off on it. This method is one of urgency and is the one Trudeau chose to take. It reflects the urgency of Trudeau's wishes to implement the law, especially considering the signature was granted the same night the bill had been agreed upon.
The Act itself gives the government an unprecedented level of control over the media its citizens consume. It introduces many regulations on the internet and the media Canadians consume from it. It will allow the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to take up a supervisory role in all content Canadians will consume. According to the official Canadian government, the bill provides the CRTC with powers to regulate online services, including the ability to make orders imposing conditions on the carrying on of broadcasting undertakings. This power includes requirements about the proportion of programs that must be "Canadian." The Act currently sets penalties for persons carrying on broadcasting projects that do not comply with regulatory requirements. Clause 15 would amend the Commission's powers to inquire into, hear, and determine contraventions of regulatory requirements.
The Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11) includes clauses specifying that unaffiliated users of social media services who upload programs for sharing with other users would not be subject to broadcasting regulation unless the programs are prescribed by regulation. Considering the CRTC was granted the power to develop even more regulatory laws for the Canadian internet in the future, this is especially concerning as what individual users will be allowed to share is based on whatever the Commission decides.
The rationale the Trudeau government uses for the bill is due to the belief that Canadians are consuming "too much foreign content." As such, the government and its commission aim to regulate platforms millions of Canadians use to promote content they deem more "Canadian." The rationale brings about many practical and moral issues in itself.
The practical problems with their reasoning are immediately apparent; the government has been incredibly vague regarding the metrics they will use to deem content "worthy of promotion." Many critics have argued that, in any case, it is an incredible challenge to determine what constitutes content as "Canadian" reasonably. The government has yet to explain how it will ultimately use its newfound powers in a manner that involves specifics. In addition, Canadian content creators are now worried about their livelihood and ability to express themselves. Platforms such as Youtube will significantly change Canada due to the government controlling whose and which videos go viral. This begs the question, how will it affect current and growing Canadian content creators? Will their content be lost on the platform due to not being "Canadian enough" or “worth sharing”? Will the government go a step further and purposefully block them? Only time will illustrate to what degree the Commission plans to regulate and utilize its powers.
The moral issues bring around the idea of censorship and forceful patriotism. Forcefully promoting patriotism to its citizens by oppressing the freedom of choice Canadians previously had in their own media consumption is frightening. It is even more concerning when one of the freest countries in the world imposes a law that undermines the liberties of its citizens; no other free country has done anything of this sort. In a way, this bill leads Canada to lose much of its ability to critique censorship in other nations. After all, how can Canada critique a country such as China for regulating what the public sees when the Canadian government has granted itself equal powers? The Canadian government can now mute and promote the types of content its citizens see; this allows them to censor content they deem "harmful," undermining the right granted to all Canadians for their freedom of expression. This reasoning built on promoting patriotism has historically been shown to lead to all sorts of problems, eventually spiralling into increased levels of nationalism and division.
In the start of 2023, OHSCA had the honor of interview MP John Brassard, and in that interview we discussed Bill C-11 and it’s implications, watch below of what MP Brassard had to say about the bill.
It is evident that the ideas the bill aims to push come from a misunderstanding of the internet. Trudeau makes a point of claiming the government will regulate the platforms but not individual content. However, it is not possible to separate the two. When one pushes a particular type of content above all others, it does drown out all the perspectives that the government believes are not worthy of promotion and works against the ideals the country was built on. It has been rightfully pointed out by the opposition that this sets a precedent of governmental control never before introduced in a free country such as Canada, and as such, it is up to Canadians who care about these freedoms to fight against the bill.
