TORONTO – CRTC chair Ian Scott told Ryerson students last Friday the Commission supports the approach of the government’s Bill C-11, known as the Online Streaming Act, and indicated he agrees with Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez’s assertion that it will not regulate user-generated content.
In his speech, a copy of which was distributed by the CRTC today, Scott said that while some argue Bill C-11 will give the Commission the authority to regulate users’ content on social media sites, “That’s just not true.
“As it’s drafted at the moment, the Bill draws a distinction between the users of social media, and the platforms themselves,” Scott said. “It’s clear to us that the Bill’s intent is to exclude individual users from regulation.”
However, this point is not so clear to everyone. Conservatives argue the language used in the bill is murky and does not clearly exempt user-generated content.
An example of this murkiness, brought up on Feb. 28 during the second reading of the bill, is with regards to the three criteria the bill asks the CRTC to consider when deciding whether to regulate content uploaded by a social media user.
According to C-11, which is still at the second reading stage, when deciding whether to regulate such content, the Commission is to consider the extent to which the “program” generates revenues, whether it has also been broadcast by a broadcasting undertaking that requires a licence or is required to be registered with the CRTC, and whether it has a “unique identifier under an international standards system.”
In response to a statement about this from Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen, Conservative MP Rick Perkins pointed out there is no “and/or” between the three criteria. “It lists three different things. Any one of those things, individually, can be regulated according to the act,” he argued.
Gerretsen said this was an “excellent point” and noted that while his understanding was all three needed to be considered, he believes “this should be one of the topics that comes up in committee, to make sure that this is the case, because it should be that way.”
“I hope that when the bill gets to committee, that can be clarified,” he said.
