The government’s bad run of digital policy choices that led to blocked news links on Facebook and Instagram, ongoing litigation over mandated streaming payments, and the recent cancellation of the digital services tax, has paved the way for another costly loss. Last fall, the Canadian government announced the conclusion of its national security review of TikTok and arrived at a curious plan: ban the company from operating in Canada but leave the app itself untouched. The decision raised concerns about weakening privacy enforcement as the Privacy Commissioner of Canada acknowledged that it is easier to compel documents and support investigations if the company is in Canada (the results of a Privacy Commissioner investigation into TikTok have still not been released).
Archive for July 8th, 2025

Law Bytes
Episode 263: The Lawful Access Act Roundtable With David Fraser and Robert Diab
byMichael Geist

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Michael Geist
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Michael Geist
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Recent Posts
Heads They Win, Tails We Lose: What Lies Behind the U.S. Trade Battle For Control over Data
Still Not a Privacy Law: Bill C-25’s Political Party Privacy Provisions Fall Short Again
Could Bill C-22 Make Canadians Less Safe? The Systemic Vulnerability Gap in Canada’s New Surveillance Law
Why the Verdict on Social Media Defective Design Harming Children Gets the Instinct Right But the Law Wrong
Scoping in the Tech Giants: Bill C-22’s International Production Order and the Shift to a Less Privacy-Protective Cross-Border Disclosure System

