The political response to terrorist attacks – particularly those involving antisemitism – now follow a fairly standard formula relying on a word salad of expressing sadness, assurances that the government stands with the Jewish community, and affirmations that antisemitism has no place in [insert country/province/city here]. While those comments often ring hollow, it is the frequent claims of “shock” that I find most disingenuous. In the aftermath of this weekend’s horrific Chanukah Massacre in Bondi Beach, Australia that left 15 dead including a Chabad rabbi, a holocaust survivor, ten-year old child and many others, you simply cannot claim to be shocked that such an incident would occur. Yet there is the Guardian reporting “communities express shock”, while EU President Ursula von der Leyen, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Lydon, and Norway Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere all say they were shocked by the attack.
News
The Most Unworkable Internet Law in the World: Quebec Opens the Door to Mandating Minimum French Content Quotas for User Generated Content on Social Media
The Quebec government has amended its Internet streaming legislation by removing an exemption for social media services, establishing the most unworkable social media regulation in the world with companies required to meet both French language minimum content quotas and discoverability requirements. I previously argued that Bill 109, which has now completed its clause-by-clause review, is unconstitutional, unnecessary, and unworkable. If enacted into law, it is sure to face a constitutional challenge and the prospect that streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify will either block the Quebec market or be forced to remove considerable English and foreign language content in order to comply. The result will mean less choice for Quebec-based subscribers without any requirements for more Quebec content (the law applies to French language content, not Quebec-based content).
Incredibly, the government, led on the file by Minister of Culture and Communications Mathieu Lacombe, has managed to make an awful bill even worse.
CRTC Says No Regulatory Action Planned Against Meta For Blocking News Links
In the months leading up to the effective date of the Online News Act, then-Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge urged the CRTC to investigate Meta’s decision to block news links on its Facebook and Instagram platforms as its method of compliance. Pointing to reports of people screenshotting news articles and the use of other workarounds the blocking of news links that came in response to the Online News Act (Bill C-18), St-Onge said “I cant wait to see what the CRTC will do when the law is fully enforced on Dec. 19.” As the law took effect and the issue grew, the CRTC did indeed send Meta a letter in October 2024 asking for information on how the company was complying with the legislation. I wrote about this request soon afterward, providing a detailed analysis of the law that sought to explain why some news sites might fall outside the scope of the legislation along with the legal grey area of screenshots.
This week, the CRTC finally responded to Meta on the issue.
Reversing the Reversal?: Government Puts Privacy Invasive Lawful Access Back on the Agenda
Last month, the government seemingly reversed course on its lawful access plans to grant law enforcement powers to demand warrantless access to personal information from any provider of a service in Canada. Buried in Bill C-2, a border measures bill, the lawful access provisions were the most expansive in Canadian history covering everyone from telecom providers to physicians to hotels. The bill sparked widespread opposition amid concerns that it was inconsistent with multiple Supreme Court of Canada decisions and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Yet it now appears that the reversal was short lived. Yesterday, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangree, Transport Minister Steve McKinnon, Secretary of State for Combatting Crime MP Ruby Sahota and a group of Liberal MPs held a press conference to urge swift passage of lawful access.
Canadian Government Introduces New Stablecoin Act as Part of Budget Implementation Legislation
The Canadian government yesterday tabled its Budget Implementation Act. Running at over 600 pages, the bill includes several notable provisions related to digital policy including the repeal of the Digital Services Tax, the restoration of a privacy provision in the Broadcasting Act that was mistakenly deleted (yet no one noticed for two years), adding a new data mobility framework to Canada’s privacy laws, and creating a new Stablecoin Act. The Canadian Stablecoin Act is modelled on the U.S. GENUIS Act, though there are some notable differences.
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