Heritage working groups examining regulation of online content

Heritage Canada has commissioned seven working groups that are looking at how to modernize the Broadcasting Act, parallel to the government-appointed expert panel whose recommendations are due in January. An April briefing note for Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez lists a number of key initiatives, including one on “regulatory framework for audiovisual content on the internet.” That includes the launch of the legislative review panel, and also says the government has “established seven horizontal policy working groups to prepare analysis and advice on key themes related to modernization of the legislative framework for broadcasting.” The partially redacted secret document, obtained by The Wire Report through access to information law, updates the minister on progress made on digital initiatives through March 2019. Looking ahead to next steps, the document says “additional exploration of alternative regulatory models” is “ongoing.” It also notes that the expert panel recommendations are due in January, but two other points under the “what is next” section have been redacted. Heritage Canada spokesperson Martine Courage said in an email that the working groups have been established to ensure that the department is “ready to provide the government with evidence-based advice on how to respond” to the final report of the broadcasting and telecom legislative review panel. The panel has thus far given no indication about what policy positions its members might take in their final recommendations. Courage said that the seven themes the working groups have been tasked with looking at are: competition and competitiveness; cultural diversity; democracy, news and citizenship; digital media and the definition of broadcasting; governance and effective administration; public broadcasting and support for the Canadian content and creative industries.” According to a definition in the department’s plan, a horizontal initiative is defined as one on which two or more federal organizations collaborate. Courage didn’t answer which other departments are involved in the working groups. “These working groups are staffed with officials from across Canadian Heritage who are also engaging with colleagues in other departments,” she said. The Liberal government has already indicated that it might not wait for the legislative panel’s report to make up its mind on some aspects of regulating online content. In an election promise, Rodriguez said in June the government plans to force large online services to make and promote Canadian content on their platforms. The briefing note also says that the government has “met with European officials to track approaches/responses to digital disruption in other countries.” On the question of taxation specifically, the note says that the government has benchmarked “international approaches to taxation of digital services,” including from the European Union, Singapore, France and G7 and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Finance Minister Bill Morneau said last fall the government plans to wait for some amount of international consensus to emerge before it acts on the issue. The note also mentioned a number of other previously-reported initiatives, including hosting an international working meeting on diversity of content in May, and a program to provide tax credits for news outlets. It also noted work on online disinformation, saying in a partially-redacted section of the document that the department has examined “potential approaches to addressing harmful content on social media, including disinformation that has the potential to impact democratic processes.”

Heritage working groups examining regulation of online content

Brief | July 30, 2019

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Heritage working groups examining regulation of online content

Brief | July 30, 2019

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