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Meta has blocked news links on its Facebook and Instagram platforms for more than a year in response to the Online News Act, resulting in significant lost traffic to many Canadian news sites. The company’s position has been pretty clear from the start: the law applies to digital news intermediaries that make “news content produced by news outlets available to persons in Canada.” By blocking news links, the company believes that it falls outside the definition and therefore is not required to register with the CRTC and enter into negotiations for payments to Canadian news outlets. After Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge repeatedly urged the CRTC to examine the issue, this week the Commission sent a letter to Meta giving it seven days to comment on “what measures Meta is taking to comply with the Act, and whether news is being made available on Meta’s platforms.”
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Reflecting on October 7th: The Antisemitism Red Alert Warning Won’t Stop Buzzing
Late on Friday, October 6, 2023, I was dozing after a family Sabbath dinner meal when I was suddenly awoken by the continuous buzzing of the Tzofar red alert app on my phone and watch. I had installed the app, which is widely used in Israel to warn of imminent rocket fire, months earlier while visiting on a teaching assignment and had forgotten it was still on my phone. At first I thought the app was malfunctioning since the buzzing would not stop and it implausibly appeared that hundreds of communities were under attack. Hours later I of course learned there was nothing wrong the app and that I had digitally witnessed the start of the October 7th massacre in real time.
I have since deleted the app, but a year later it feels as if the Canadian Jewish community needs something similar to warn of antisemitic outbreaks. Such an app would buzz nearly daily given the rise of antisemitism which emanates with astonishing frequency from both the extreme right and left. Indeed, what would have once sparked immediate condemnation now occurs with little commentary or surprise: synagogue vandalism incidents too numerous to mention, Jewish schools and community centres hit with gunfire or makeshift bombs, Jewish senior homes and hospitals facing hostile protests, and university campuses home to what multiple presidents admit is significant antisemitism problem.
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 215: Jan Grabowski on Wikipedia’s Antisemitism Problem
This podcast drops on Monday, October 7th, the one-year anniversary of the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. I’ve largely kept the issue the rising tide of antisemitism since the Hamas terrorist attacks off the Law Bytes podcast, but those that follow my work will know that I have been vocal on social media and the mainstream media expressing my shock and concern. This episode blends my professional focus on digital policy with my personal concerns regarding antisemitism.
The alarming rise of antisemitism over the past year has left many – myself included – in shock. I see it in my social media mentions and on popular sites such as Wikipedia, where it has cropped up on entries involving issues like Zionism and even in the targeting of groups like the Anti-Defamation League. Wikipedia’s antisemitism problem may not have come as a surprise to Professor Jan Grabowski, a professor of Holocaust studies at the University of Ottawa. He conducted a detailed study on the issue in 2023 which focused on the Holocaust page involving Poland, his area of expertise. Professor Grabowski joins the Law Bytes podcast to talk about his work, his Wikipedia study, and the threat of disinformation on the site.
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 214: Erin Millar on Trust in Media and the Implementation of the Online News Act
Questions about trust in the media have escalated in Canada in recent months as with each error or questionable tweet, there is seemingly an inevitable chorus of concerns that raise doubts about the implications of government regulation and funding of the media. So where is the Online News Act at right now? What of the new collective designed to distribute the $100 million that Google agreed to pay in return for an exemption from mandated arbitration? And what can be done about the mounting trust deficit?
Erin Millar wears several hats including as the CEO & Co-founder of Indiegraf and the interim board chair of the Canadian Journalism Collective, the collective that was picked by Google to administer the $100 million distribution. She joins the Law Bytes podcast in a personal capacity – she isn’t speaking on anyone’s behalf – to talk about the latest Bill C-18 developments and what measures might help address trust in Canadian media.
The Bill on Canada’s Digital Policy Comes Due: Blocked News Links, Cancelled Sponsorship, Legal Challenges, and Digital Ad Surcharges
Canada’s digital policy has seemingly long proceeded on the assumption that tech companies would draw from an unlimited budget to write bigger cheques to meet government regulation establishing new mandated payments. Despite repeated warnings on Bills C-11 (Internet streaming), C-18 (online news), and a new digital services tax that tech companies – like anyone else – were more likely to respond by adjusting their Canadian budgets or simply passing along new costs to consumers, the government and the bill’s supporters repeatedly dismissed the risks that the plans could backfire. Yet today the bill from those digital policy choices is coming due: legal and trade challenges, blocked news links amid decreasing trust in the media, cancellation of sponsorship deals worth millions of dollars that will be devastating to creators, and a new Google digital advertising surcharge that kicks in next week to offset the costs of the digital services tax.
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Is Meta Offside the Online News Act? The CRTC Wants to Know. ![Red alert -[ HMM ]- by Carbon Arc CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/FgBkhR](https://www.michaelgeist.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/25774555205_035a814280_k-100x75.jpg)
Reflecting on October 7th: The Antisemitism Red Alert Warning Won’t Stop Buzzing 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 215: Jan Grabowski on Wikipedia’s Antisemitism Problem 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 214: Erin Millar on Trust in Media and the Implementation of the Online News Act 
The Bill on Canada’s Digital Policy Comes Due: Blocked News Links, Cancelled Sponsorship, Legal Challenges, and Digital Ad Surcharges
