Protecting online content or censoring it: reaction to the federal government’s new Online Streaming Act depends on how you think the federal government will use the recently passed legislation.
Bill C-11, one of the most hotly debated pieces of legislation in recent Canadian history, received Royal Assent and became law on April 27, but observers say it’s too early to tell what it means for the Catholic Church and religion in general.
One of the bill’s fiercest opponents expects faith will draw a lot of interest from proponents of the bill, which many believe will lead to government placing restrictions on voices that run counter to those in the corridors of power.
The legislation amends the 1991 Canadian Broadcasting Act and subjects digital content creators, notably streaming and social media giants, to regulation by the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission. Platforms like Netflix and TikTok will be treated akin to traditional broadcasters and as such will be mandated to invest millions of dollars in Canadian content and artists.
“Let me put it this way,” said Peter Menzies, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and former CRTC vice-chairman and president of telecommunications.
“Religion has always been a topic of interest within the CRTC. There has been concern shown towards religious licences and broadcasters. These broadcasters must include content from other religions or no religion. Now that the CRTC is in charge of the global internet, I’m not sure how it will affect religious websites, films, and other institutions.”
Government regulation has long been a concern for Canadian Catholic entities. In November, the Catholic Civil Rights League said it was concerned about Bill C-11’s possible impacts on free speech.
“In a free and democratic society, efforts to limit free speech must be opposed in favour of open communication,” which includes opinions that the government might view as non-conforming, executive director Christian Elia wrote in an email to The Catholic Register.
Elia was particularly concerned about what would happen to pro-life voices.
“We support the dignity of the human person from conception until natural death in our opposition to abortion and euthanasia. We hope that broadcasters will allow such voices to be heard in a robust way rather than submit to government diktat.”
The federal government, however, has framed the bill as necessary to preserve Canadian content.
“Today, we are standing up for our stories, our artists, our producers and our creators,” Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said in a statement released upon the bill’s passage. “We’re standing up so that Canadians have even more opportunities to see themselves in what they watch and listen to.”
Critics have dubbed Bill C-11 the “online censorship bill,” and the Conservative Party of Canada, content creators, media industry experts, and big tech representatives have raised concerns that it could be used to control what Canadians see and hear online. By purposely enhancing the visibility of selected Canadian artists via playlists, feeds, and algorithm recommendations, other content that internet users might prefer to see, will have to limited.
Menzies, who served at the CRTC for nearly 10 years, expects years of court challenges over the law. “There will probably be constitutional challenges – and regulatory haggling,” putting “tens of thousands of jobs at risk” and raising “plenty of conundrums for the CRTC.”
Canadian companies already support Canadian film and television product, but the new law means “we’ve now outsourced the funding of Canadian film and television projects to foreign multinationals.”
Menzies said companies like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and YouTube are already “investing in Canadian television and film jobs quite nicely,” and Canada has enjoyed great “online prosperity” in the past decade. The new bill has the potential to disrupt that success, he said.
Hearings and debates could stretch for months, he said, leading to appeals to the government and constitutional challenges.
Canadian Catholic News