Canada’s Online Streaming Act: Promoting Canada Through Censorship

-- By TonyWang - 15 Apr 2024

Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives Canadians a constitutionally protected right to Freedom of Expression, which the Online Streaming Act will inevitably violate because it promotes Canadian Content through Censorship.

What is the Online Streaming Act?

The Online Streaming Act, known as Bill C-11, makes changes to Canada’s Broadcasting Act last updated in 1991. The Broadcasting Act gave the CRTA (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission the power to regulate broadcasting, with the purpose of making Canadian Content, or CanCon? , accessible and available in Canada. Before the Online Streaming Act was passed in 2023, the Broadcasting Act did not include online media that delivers audio-visual content under its licensing and regulatory supervision. Today, the new Online Streaming Act will expand the CRTC’s regulatory powers beyond the radio to include the internet — online streaming platforms such as YouTube? , Netflix, Spotify, and etc. Clause 2 of the Act classifies audio-visual content on these streaming platforms as “Online Undertakings”, a class of broadcasting service subject to the licensing and regulation of the CRTC. Clause 10 of the Act gives the CRTC the power to mandate what proportion of programs on these streaming platforms must be Canadian Content or “CanCon”. At this point, oen mgiht ask, what is content is considered Canadian? And who gets to decide what is Canadian enough? Well, herein lies the problem. The Online Streaming Act gives the CRTC the power to define what is considered Canadian Content, as well as the power to impose penalties on streaming platforms that do not comply with regulatory requirements.

Something feels off right? Well, before we unpack what this will mean, let’s understand what Proponents of the bill will argue.

Why proponents say we need this Act.

Subsection B

Proponents make three assertions. Firstly, the Online Streaming Act merely updates the outdated Broadcasting Act to include new forms of broadcasting on the internet, and it is a natural adaptation of the Broadcasting Act’s powers to the modern age. Secondly, such government paternalism and cultural protectionism is necessary for purposes of equality, because promoting Canadian content that reflects Canada’s diverse cultural identity and bilingualism will ensure Canada’s equality. Lastly, in response to public backlash and unease, the Bill stipulates that social media users that are not affiliated with service providers are not subject to the CRTC’s broadcasting regulations, so one need not worry about censorship because the CRTC will not stop you from uploading your cat videos to YouTube? or place penalties on you for not making enough Canadian Content.

Unpacking this Trojan Horse

Let’s unpack what made this Act feel off earlier:

The CRTC is given the power to define what content is Canadian enough. How could a commission‘s definition of what constitutes Canadian possibly become problematic? Here’s an example. A TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, did not qualify as CanCon? under the CRTC, never mind that the novel was written by a famous Canadian author and the TV adaptation was filmed in Canada. Whatever reason the CRTC had to not deem this Canadian enough, it is clear that definitions around what is Canadian necessarily includes biases about what one believes Canadian aspects are important. But to define what is Canadian will necessarily reject other interpretations of the Canadian identity. For example, one policy goal of the Act is to promote English-French bilingualism to protect equality of the Quebecois, but doing so will reject a notion of Canada where a majority of French-speaking population is limited to Quebec, with the rest of Canada not proficient in French. The CRTC operates at arms-length from the federal government, with the power to promote through licensing and regulation content they deem Canadian on streaming platforms. In prioritizing their version of Canadian culture, they paint a version of reality they want to emphasize, but must inevitably de-prioritize “non-Canadian” content.

Although this Bill does not directly regulate content creators on social media, it nevertheless influences the content they make by incentivizing the streaming platforms content creators use to draw attention towards CanCon? and away from everyone else. To illustrate by example: if tomorrow the CRTC decides that 30% of videos on YouTube? shown to Canadians on their ‘for you’ page must be “Canadian Content”, and failure to meet this requirement will result in penalties for Youtube, then what might happen? Clearly, YouTube? will promote and prioritize videos the CRTC deems is Canadian enough by bumping these videos to the top of video search results and pushing this content onto Canadian users. This comes at the cost of content creators whose videos don’t fit into the CRTC’s CanCon? definition, resulting in their loss of viewership and revenue. Over time, content creators will adapt by changing their content to fit within the CRTC’s CanCon? framework, and the CRTC can indirectly suppress and censor content they consider non-Canadian through promoting CanCon? .

While this newly passed Act has yet to operationalize itself on a large scale, one can see how a slippery slope can form, resulting in an Orwellian shadow over content creators and the version of Canadian culture Canadians will be exposed to.