Global Courant 2023-04-28 02:58:55
A controversial government bill to overhaul Canada’s broadcasting laws to regulate streaming services has passed the final hurdle in the Senate and is expected to become law Thursday night.
After years of discussion and debate, the Senate on Thursday gave its final approval to Bill C-11, also known as the Online Streaming Act. It is expected to receive royal assent later Thursday, a spokesman for Senator Marc Gold, the government’s representative in the Senate, said.
The bill makes changes to the Canadian Broadcasting Act. The legislation requires streaming services, such as Netflix and Spotify, to pay to support Canadian media content such as music and TV shows.
It also requires the platforms to promote Canadian content. Specifically, the bill says, “Online ventures will clearly promote and recommend Canadian programming, both in official languages and Indigenous languages.”
The changes give the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Canada’s broadcast regulator, broad powers over digital media companies, including the ability to impose financial penalties for violations of the law.
The government says the bill is needed to impose the same rules and requirements on traditional broadcasters on online media platforms. Currently, broadcasters are required to spend at least 30 percent of their revenue supporting Canadian content.
“Online streaming has changed the way we create, discover and consume our culture, and it’s time we update our system to reflect that,” a government said. press release about the bill says.
Conservatives have denounced the bill as an attack on free speech.
“Under this archaic system of censorship, government gatekeepers will now have the power to control what videos, messages and other content Canadians can see online,” says a conservative web page about C-11.
Public debate has been contentious, with supporters saying the bill will boost Canada’s media and arts sectors, while critics warn the bill could over-regulate the internet.
Internet companies affected by the legislation have also criticized C-11.
“If TikTok were required to promote content certified by the CRTC as CanCon, on our platform it would give an unfair advantage to well-equipped and established media voices at the expense of independent and emerging digital creators,” a post from the video-sharing platform TikTok says.
Google, the parent company of YouTube, launched a public campaign against the legislationsaying that this would negatively affect users’ experience on the platform.
Heritage Secretary Pablo Rodriguez, the sponsor of C-11, has dismissed much of the criticism of the bill from the conservatives and tech companies, describing it as imprecise.
Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez prepares to appear before a Senate committee in Ottawa on November 22, 2022. Rodriguez, the minister responsible for C-11, has dismissed criticism of the bill as incorrect. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
The bill’s journey through parliament was difficult. Rodriguez introduced the legislation in February 2022 in the House of Commons. Nearly a year later, the Senate sent C-11 back to the House of Commons with amendments. The House accepted most of the amendments, but rejected others.
One of the most controversial points of discussion is whether C-11 would apply to user-generated content, such as podcasts and online videos. The government has insisted that the legislation is not intended to regulate independent content creators.
One of the Senate amendments would have added protections for some types of user-generated content, such as comedy acts and how-to videos. The House rejected that amendment, arguing it could create loopholes for streaming giants.
The House sent the bill back to the Senate and — after days of further debate — C-11 received formal approval from the Senate on Thursday.
The government introduced a similar version of the bill in 2020, but it died when parliament was dissolved in August 2021.
Bill’s effects in practice still remain a mystery
The broad language of the bill leaves it unclear what it will do in practice — an aspect of the legislation that the Senate has recognized.
For example, the bill says Canadian broadcasting should “serve the needs and interests of all Canadians, including Canadians from racialized communities and Canadians of diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds, socio-economic statuses, abilities and disabilities, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and ages”. .”
“What this would mean concretely for broadcasters is not yet known.” reads a Senate page on C-11.
“Another complicating factor is that the bill would give the CRTC new powers – but exactly how or if the CRTC would make use of them cannot be determined by an analysis of the bill alone.”
But the government is expected to clear up many ambiguities through a policy directive to the CRTC. A Senate amendment accepted by the House of Commons requires the CRTC to conduct public consultations on how it will use its new regulatory powers.
