Canada's New Internet Regulations Will Soon Expand to News Sites, Law Professor Warns

Anthony Murdoch : Oct 5, 2023
LIfeSiteNews.com

Dr. Michael Geist said the Online Streaming Act 'is likely to cover podcasts, adult sites, news sites, and a host of other online video and audio services.'

(Ottawa, Ontario) — [LifeSiteNews.com] Canadian law professor Dr. Michael Geist has warned that new powers granted to Canada's broadcast regulator via Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, will not stop at "Web Giants" but will lead to the government going after "news sites" and other "online" video sites as well. (Image: Pixabay)

"Bill C-11 was never just about 'web giants' and the latest CRTC decision confirms that an extensive regulatory framework is in the works that is likely to cover podcasts, adult sites, news sites, and a host of other online video and audio services," Geist observed in a recent blog posting concerning the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) new mandate.

"The takeaway from the decision is obvious: Registration is the first step toward regulation with the Commission already envisioning the prospect of regulating a wide range of services."

Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa and has been critical of Bill C-11 and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government's other internet regulatory bill, C-18.

Last Friday, the CRTC announced that it will now mandate certain online streaming services and podcasters "register" with the government by November 28, 2023.

This command was ridiculed online as outright "censorship" by a slew of prominent figures.

'Dozens' more rules still to come because of Bill C-11

As it stands now, any online streaming service that offers content in Canada, which includes podcasters, falls under the new rules. The rules stipulate that for now only streaming services and podcasters who earn more than $10 million or more in annual revenues "will need to complete a registration form by November 28, 2023."

In practice, Bill C-11 now mandates that the CRTC oversee regulating online content on platforms such as YouTube and Netflix to ensure that such platforms are promoting content in accordance with a variety of its guidelines.

Geist warned on his blog that there will be at least "a dozen decisions" stemming from Bill C-11 that are still to come.

According to Geist, while the government insisted that C-11 in its original form was just about "web giants," one could be "forgiven for assuming that the registration would be limited to those larger players"... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

Continue reading Here.