The Canadian government has responded to three reports focused on digital policies from the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, shedding new light on potential future policies and priorities. The three reports – on tech giants, local media, and harms caused by illegal sexually explicit materials posted online – recommended a wide range of measures that include new laws, regulations, and government programs. The government sidesteps some of the recommended legislative reforms in its responses signed by Heritage Minister Marc Miller, suggesting limited interest in committing to broad-based platform liability rules.
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Canadian TikTok Ban Called Off as the Government Hits the Digital Policy Reset Button Once Again
The Carney government’s steady reset of Canadian digital policy continues as it has now backed off plans to ban TikTok from operating in Canada. The government’s approach, first announced in November 2024, never made any sense since the TikTok app remained available without restriction and the corporate ban weakened privacy enforcement and resulted in millions in lost cultural support. The policy was a true lose-lose-lose and seemed premised on piggybacking on U.S. legislation to ban the app. The change in U.S. administration effectively nixed those plans, leaving Canadians with the worst of both worlds: a corporate ban that created real harms with no discernible benefit and a Canadian TikTok app that would ultimately offer fewer safeguards than the U.S. equivalent.
The reset on the TikTok ban came through what amounts to a settlement between the government and TikTok that was made official yesterday by the federal court.
The Year in Review: Top Ten Michael Geist Substacks
My look back at 2025 concludes with a review of my most popular Substacks of the year. Much like my top ten blog posts, lawful access, privacy and digital policy were the most popular issues, though Substack also included a focus on Quebec’s Internet streaming legislation and multiple posts on the digital services tax.
The Year in Review: Top Ten Law Bytes Podcast Episodes
The final Law Bytes podcast of 2025 released last week took a look back at the year in digital policy. With the podcast on a holiday break, this post looks back at the ten most popular episodes of the year. Topping the charts this year was a discussion with Sukesh Kamra on law firm adoption of artificial intelligence and innovative technologies. The episode is part of the Law Bytes Professionalism Pack that enables Ontario lawyers to obtain accredited CLE professionalism hours. Other top episodes focused on digital policy under the Carney government, episodes on privacy law developments and a trio of episodes on Bill C-2, the government’s lawful access bill.
The Year in Review: Top Ten Posts
This week’s Law Bytes podcast featured a look at the year in review in digital law and policy. Before wrapping up for the year, the next three posts over the holidays will highlight my most popular posts, podcast episodes, and Substacks of the past year. Today’s post starts with the top posts, in which two issues dominated: lawful access and antisemitism. While most of the top ten involves those two issues, the top post of the year featured an analysis of the government’s approach to the digital services tax, which ultimately resulted in an embarrassing climbdown by the government.
Recent Posts
Nobody Wants This: Senate Rejects Government’s Anti-Privacy Plan for Political Parties By Sending Bill Back to the House With a Sunset Clause 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 258: Jaxson Khan With an Insider Perspective on AI Policy Development in Canada 
Time for the Government to Fix Its Political Party Privacy Blunder: Kill Bill C-4’s Disastrous Privacy Rules 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 257: Lisa Given on What Canada Can Learn From Australia’s Youth Social Media Ban 
Court Ordered Social Media Site Blocking Coming to Canada?: Trojan Horse Online Harms Bill Clears Senate Committee Review
