Bill C-10: Social media, politics and free speech

For the first time since 1991, the federal government is updating the country’s Broadcasting Act. Little did they know the firestorm that would arise against Bill C-10. Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault has been the one feeling the heat, online and elsewhere over his Bill, which attempts to bring some regulation to the Internet and support for Canadian content.

 

Social media companies like YouTube, Google and Netflix contribute nothing to Canadian content, unlike traditional broadcasters. Or at least that’s what the government is saying. Small media companies that use the internet to reach Canadians, like Unpublished Media for example, disagree. Bill C-10 intends to bring them under regulation and have them support Canadian creativity.

 

The argument has devolved into a dispute whether it would limit or monitor your social media feeds. The cry of “censorship “ has rang out across the country as people worry about curbs to their freedom of expression. It has also become a political football as the Conservatives cite C-10 as Orwellian.

 

 

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On this episode of the Unpublished Café podcast we take a look at the legislation, and try and clear up some misconceptions.

 

Joining us is Kate Taylor, Visual Arts critic with the Globe and Mail; Daniel Bernhard, Executive Director of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting; and Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa.

 

Scroll down to see their bios.