Post Tagged with: "c-11"

0S9A9005 by Vancouver Economic Commission https://flic.kr/p/JcaX2m CC BY 2.0

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 234: “Solutions Aren’t Going to be Found Through Nostalgia”: Mark Musselman on the CRTC Hearings on Canadian Content Rules

The CRTC recently wrapped up a two-week hearing on the Online Streaming Act that featured most of the usual suspects, though notably not the large streaming services. The Commission grappled with foundational issues such as modernizing the definition of Canadian content, instituting IP requirements, and introducing new discoverability rules into Canada’s broadcasting regulatory framework.

Mark Musselman is a former entertainment lawyer, longtime Canadian movie producer, current PhD student focused on cultural and legal policy, and the author of the White Paper Black Coffee substack. Having appeared many times before the CRTC, he joins the Law Bytes podcast to discuss the recent Cancon hearing, breaking down the major issues of debate and identifying what was missing from the discussion.

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June 2, 2025 — 0 comments — Podcasts
President Trump Signs an Executive Order by Trump White House, https://flic.kr/p/2jgs8nP PDM 1.0

Why Years of Canadian Digital Policy Is Either Dead (Prorogation) or Likely to Die (Trump)

The Canadian political and business communities are unsurprisingly focused on the prospect of U.S. President Donald Trump instituting 25% tariffs on Canadian goods and services. The threat of tariffs, which could spark a retaliatory response by Canada and fuel a damaging trade war, would likely cause serious harm to the Canadian economy. But tariffs aren’t the only story arising from new Trump actions in his first day in office. Amidst the many executive orders signed on day one are several with significant implications for Canadian law, particularly Canadian digital policies such as the digital services tax, mandated streaming payments arising from Bill C-11, and mandated payments for news links due to Bill C-18. When combined the government’s decision to prorogue Parliament earlier this month, the results of years of Canadian digital laws and policies now largely fall into two groups: those that have died due to prorogation and those that are likely to die due to Donald Trump.

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January 22, 2025 — 13 comments — News
President Trump Meets with Mark Zuckerberg by Official White House Photo by Joiyce N. Boghosian https://flic.kr/p/2hida5y PDM 1.0

New Era and New Risks: Meta’s Content Moderation Reforms and Freedom of Expression Online

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg yesterday announced significant new changes to the company’s content moderation policies. The five-minute video is worth watching in its entirety, as it demonstrates the shifting political sands that seemingly pressured even the world’s largest social media company to pay heed. Zuckerberg said the company’s reliance on third-party fact checkers had resulted in too much censorship and vowed to return to an emphasis on freedom of expression. That means the fact checkers are gone, replaced by the Twitter (X) model of community notes. Moreover, the company is moving its content moderation team from California to Texas (a nod to claims the California-based teams were biased), increasing the amount of political content in user feeds, and pledging to work with the Trump administration to combat content regulation elsewhere, including in Europe and South America.

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January 8, 2025 — 19 comments — News
Committee Room, West Block by Sean Marshall CC BY-NC 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/2hjUQcA

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 221: Inside My Canadian Heritage Committee Appearance on Freedom of Expression

The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has for the past month been conducting a study on protecting freedom of expression. The counters of the study aren’t entirely clear. In fact, after I was invited to appear, I asked for some sense of what the committee was looking to address. There wasn’t much detail, which has really left it open for witnesses to cover whatever issues they like.  I chose to focus my time on two issues: the expression implications of Canadian digital policy and the chilling effect of antisemitism. The two issues have really dominated my attention in recent months. Digital policy – including Bills C-11, C-18, C-63, and S-210 for years now and the antisemitism issues an enormous concern post October 7, 2023.

 This week’s Law Bytes podcast takes the listener into the hearing room and the wide range of questions from Liberal, Conservative, and Bloc MPs my opening statement sparked. 

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December 2, 2024 — 3 comments — Podcasts
Reclaim Video Streaming by Jim Groom CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/S1H2E8

How the Online Streaming Act Misdiagnosed Canada’s Broadcasting Woes 

Nearly one year ago, I made my way from my home in Ottawa across the river to the Gatineau hearing room used by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to participate in its inaugural proceeding on implementing the Online Streaming Act, better known as Bill C-11. I had regularly appeared as a witness at House of Commons and Senate committees, but this was my first time participating in a hearing before Canada’s broadcasting regulator. I came with a simple message: while the roster of witnesses was filled with cultural lobby groups and broadcasters asking for their share of the bill’s anticipated pot of gold, the perspective of consumers and the public interest needed to be heard.

My opening statement emphasized prioritizing public over private interests, which, I argued, meant putting Canadians at the centre of their communications system, as one CRTC chair once characterized it. I did not anticipate receiving a warm reception, but I was still taken aback by the frostiness toward the notion that consumers and the public interest were important considerations. Instead, commissioners pointed to the need to step in where broadcasters or content creators were struggling to succeed in the market.

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November 12, 2024 — 15 comments — Columns
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