Amid TikTok ban, Canadians left ‘to their own devices’ as feds dither on updating privacy rules: Geist

The Liberals’ latest attempt at modernizing the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, Bill C-27, has only made it to its second reading nine months after being introduced.
Experts welcome Rouleau’s call to combat misinformation, say ‘whole-of-society approach’ needed

The current information landscape is a feedback loop where ‘you come for the ideology, and you stay despite the science-free lunacy,’ says health misinformation expert Timothy Caulfield.
Google’s willingness to block Canadians’ access to news underscores need for Bill C-18

Given the importance of legitimate, professional newsrooms to Canada’s democracy, these foreign web giants should not be able to choose the winners and losers in our local media landscape.
Sport ministers team up to tackle ‘huge gap’ in safe sport against tight timeline, ‘frustrations’ of federalism

Provincial ministers told The Hill Times they want federal cash to help offset costs of joining Sport Integrity Commissioner Office as deadline to sign up or create their own sport oversight bodies looms.
Time to pay the piper

Google leadership told a parliamentary committee that the government’s attempt to monetize internet news content for local support would not work. They said the same thing in Australia and, according to the government there, the move has provided almost $200-million in payments to news providers since the bill passed in 2021.
Some advocates fear Liberals will go too far ‘out on a limb’ with online harms law, while others warn against ‘light-touch approach’

The consultation process amounts to ‘policy laundering,’ says internet law expert Michael Geist, in reaction to a ‘What We Heard’ report recently released by Canadian Heritage.
Quebec’s anglophones living a winter of discontent

Quebec bureaucrats are preparing regulations for Bill 96, the egregious changes to the Charter of the French Language, which will soon explode on the anglophone community.
MPs ‘are listening to Kirsty right now,’ says Status of Women Committee chair, following ex-minister Duncan’s comments on abuse in sport

Conservative MP Karen Vecchio says the majority of athletes who testified before the Status of Women Committee expressed a desire to have a national inquiry.
CRTC must ‘look around the corner’ in changing digital landscape, says new chair who wants to ‘meet the needs of Canadians’

Telecom observers are tentatively pleased by the selection of new Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission chair Vicky Eatrides, but say the views of Canadians will be ‘based on results.’
Feds owe it to Canadian public to address the harm caused by copyright term extension

Only a miniscule percentage of copyright owners will benefit from an extra 20 years of protection, meanwhile, the rest of us lose unless balancing measures are taken. The government owes it to the Canadian public to ensure broad access to cultural heritage.