Freedom of speech – at risk in Canada

Stop being polite and start demanding free speech, one Canadian researcher argues after Kirk shooting

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following the murder of Charlie Kirk, the Heritage Foundation’s Liana Graham, a research assistant for domestic policy, was inspired by headlines she saw in the Canadian press about Kirk’s assassination to write an op-ed arguing that Canadian censorship and silencing of dissent lead to a dehumanizing culture that invites political violence.

In turn, the National Post reached out to Graham, a dual citizen of both Canada and the United States, to discuss what she sees as the political and media forces impacting censorship and free expression in Canada.

This interview has been condensed for length and clarity.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, Freedom of speech, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada, USA

Rushdie stabbing prompts Canadian literary figures to highlight author’s free speech fight

Canadian writers, publishers and literary figures doubled down on the right to freedom of thought and expression on Saturday, one day after an attack in the U.S. on award-winning author Salman Rushdie that has left him on a ventilator in hospital.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inCanada, Censorship, Censorship in Canada, Freedom of speech, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada

Unequal Speech: How to Explain the Contradictory Criticism of the CRTC Radio-Canada Decision and Support for Bill C-11

The controversy over the CRTC’s Radio-Canada decision involving its repeated use of the N-word has continued to grow with Quebec-based politicians – including the governing CAQ and the Liberal Party of Quebec – warning of censorship and calling on Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez to reverse the CRTC decision. The outpouring has left me struggling to reconcile the seeming hypocrisy of politicians who warn about the dangers of CRTC speech regulation even as they have been the most ardent supporters of Bill C-11, eager to pass resolutions that call on the federal government to enact legislation empowering the CRTC to regulate user content.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted in"Bad Law", Censorship in Canada, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada

CRTC Chair Ian Scott Confirms Bill C-11 Can Be Used To Pressure Internet Platforms to Manipulate Algorithms

The Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications held an exceptionally important hearing as part of its Bill C-11 pre-study (which is about to change into a Bill C-11 study) last night featuring Canadian Heritage officials and CRTC Chair Ian Scott. I will have a second post on the officials, who struggled to provide clear answers to basic questions on everything from how to identify what counts as Cancon for user content (Youtube’s Content ID was suggested) to the absence of thresholds for what is covered by the bill (there are no thresholds and the government wants the ability to also target small streamers). But the key moment of the day came in questioning Scott about the discoverability and the potential for algorithmic manipulation.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inCanada, Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, Censorship in Canada, Censorship on Social Media, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada, Internet

CRTC confirms internet bill C-11 will regulate user content

The chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has confirmed that the Trudeau government’s Bill C-11 would crack down on user content – contrary to the government’s own testimony.

Testifying at a Canadian heritage committee hearing on Tuesday, CRTC chair Ian Scott said, “[Section] 4.2 allows the CRTC to prescribe by regulation user uploaded content subject to very explicit criteria. That is also in the Act.”

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inCanada, Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, Censorship, Censorship in Canada, Censorship on Social Media, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada

Could the federal government regulate your cat videos on YouTube? Maybe, former CRTC vice-chair warns

Despite the federal government’s assurances that it won’t regulate videos Canadians post for fun on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, a former top regulator has warned that a government bill still leaves the door open for doing precisely that.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inCanada, Censorship, Censorship in Canada, Censorship on Social Media, Freedom of speech, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada, Government is never your friend, Government regulation of every breath

Trudeau’s internet laws will muzzle his critics

Imagine you woke up one morning to find out your Facebook account had been locked out.

At first you think maybe you got hacked, but when you check your email, you see something from Facebook informing you that, unfortunately, according to the new censorship laws, the status update you posted that contained a criticism of the government was labelled as “hate speech” and “disinformation,” so they were forced to shut your account down.

That may seem like a bit of a wild example, but that possible future is closer than you think.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inCanada, Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, Censorship, Censorship in Canada, Censorship on Social Media, Freedom of speech, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada, Internet, Justin Trudeau - Pissant

Canada To Join World’s Most Oppressive Countries In Internet Censorship Restrictions

Is freedom about to fall in Canada? If the secret world of internet censorship is an indicator, the time is upon us. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has had enough of freedom of speech. His timing is impeccable. Just as the cat is out of the bag regarding the Liberal-WEF-WHO interconnection, government stand at the precipice of muzzling our population.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inCanada, Censorship, Censorship in Canada, Censorship on Social Media, Freedom of speech, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada, Internet, Justin Trudeau - Pissant

No Comment: Government Moves to End Debate on Online News Bill Despite a No-Show from Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez

Since its introduction in the House of Commons last month, the Online News Act (Bill C-18) has been debated or discussed just once. The bill was tabled without comment by Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez on April 5th. Thus far, Friday, May 13th was the only one day devoted debate on the bill at second reading, a day when so many MPs were not present that there was a question on whether there was sufficient quorum to proceed. Rodriguez did not deliver a speech or answer questions that day, leaving it to his Parliamentary Secretary Chris Bittle, who I pointed out inaccurately characterized the requirement for payments by Internet platforms as “use” of content and implausibly argued that the bill involved “minimal government intervention.” There has been a total of less than two hours of speeches and debate with just 10 MPs speaking to the bill or asking questions (Bittle and Mark Gerretsen being the only Liberal MPs).

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inCanada, Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, Censorship, Censorship in Canada, Freedom of speech, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada, Justin Trudeau - Pissant

CRTC Chair Confirms Bill C-11 Captures User Content, Will Take Years to Implement

CRTC Chair Ian Scott appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage yesterday and Bill C-11 proved to be a popular topic of discussion. The exchanges got testy at times as Scott seemingly stepped outside of his role as an independent regulatory by regularly defending government legislation, even veering into commenting on newspapers, which clearly falls outside the CRTC’s jurisdiction. With respect to Bill C-11, most newsworthy were two comments regarding the regulation of user content and the timelines for implementing the bill if it receives royal assent.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted in"Criminalizing Dissent", "Surveillance Society", Canada, Censorship, Censorship in Canada, Censorship on Social Media, Freedom of speech, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada

Google warns Online News Act would give feds “unprecedented control”

US tech giant Google has blasted the Trudeau government over a federal plan to regulate online news, calling it a sweeping attempt to impose government control over the web.

Vice President and Managing Director of Google Canada Sabrina Geremia warned in a lengthy post on Monday that Bill C-18 – also known as the Online News Act – would give the federal government “sweeping new powers” to regulate news content.

“The bill gives the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) unprecedented, sweeping new powers to regulate every aspect of the Canadian news industry,” wrote Geremia.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inCanada, Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, Censorship, Censorship in Canada, Freedom of speech, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada, Google, Google is Evil

Canada’s Globe and Mail pushes back against government’s online censorship bill

The editorial board of Canada’s Globe and Mail has voiced criticism of the way Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to tackle “online harms,” saying that it remains unclear who would be the target of these future laws, or how they would work.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inCanada, Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, Censorship, Censorship in Canada, Censorship on Social Media, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada, Justin Trudeau - Pissant

Groups surprised at government ‘secrecy’ over online harm bill consultation

Some advocacy groups and individuals who submitted feedback to the federal government about its proposed online harms legislation say they were surprised the government didn’t make their consultation documents public, which would have ensured concerns about a “disturbing” and “extremely problematic” plan were heard widely.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted in"Bad Law", "Criminalizing Dissent", Canada, Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, Censorship in Canada, Censorship on Social Media, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada

Khan: Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover shows why Canada must regulate social media now

Voices from racialized communities, anti-racism activists and the political left are saying that restrictions must be maintained on those voices that use the platform to propagate hate, xenophobia and disinformation. Many on the political right, free-speech extremists and far-right voices are rejoicing at the prospect that Twitter under Musk’s ownership will become a space for unrestricted speech, where anything one can say is acceptable.

That is a lie: Musk has stated very clearly that he intended to allow all legal speech.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inBatshit crazy lefties, Freedom of speech, Freedom of speech - at risk in Canada, Government is never your friend, Government regulation of every breath, Twitter, Twitter is Evil