Canada: Liberal government revising plan to regulate social media in light of U.S. Capitol riot

[mountaineer]

Ezra Levant  @ezralevant
1h
Important story in the Globe (paywalled): Trudeau and Guilbeault are planning a massive assault on freedom of speech with sweeping new censorship requirements of all social media companies.  No opposition MP is quoted. Because no opposition MP is opposed.
We're on our own.
2:20 PM · Jan 18, 2021

Liberal government revising plan to regulate social media in light of U.S. Capitol riot
Bill Curry
Jan. 18, 2021
Globe and Mail

The federal government is making final revisions to its plans to act against online hate and harassment on social-media platforms in light of the deadly U.S. Capitol Hill riots, and its proposed measures will be presented to cabinet in the coming weeks.

The recent actions of web giants Facebook, Google, Twitter, Apple and Amazon following the riots are prompting worldwide debate about fundamental issues of freedom of speech, the responsibility of platform companies to moderate their sites, and the proper role of government regulation.

If approved by cabinet, the Canadian legislation could be introduced in Parliament as soon as February or March. The legislation is expected to be influenced by measures already in place in other countries, such as Germany, which requires social-media platforms to remove illegal content under tight deadlines and the threat of financial penalties. In a Canadian context, this will likely involve the creation of a new government regulator.  ...

Mr. Guilbeault said in a statement to The Globe that while social-media companies have recently been active at removing illegal content, the government‘s planned approach will be “more effective and efficient than self-regulation.”

“While preserving a fundamental right to freedom of expression, our approach will require online platforms to monitor and eliminate illegal content that appears on their platforms. That includes hate speech, terrorist propaganda, violent content, child sexual exploitation and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images,” he said. ...

[mountaineer]

Trudeau Liberals to launch new bureaucracy to regulate Canadians' social media content
The size of the operation would "likely involve the creation of a new government regulator," creating a bureaucracy around what is on
Roberto Wakerell-Cruz Montreal, QC
January 18, 2021 4:50 PM

The Trudeau Liberals are moving forward with their plan to weed out "hate and harassment" from the internet, and will be presenting their plan to cabinet next week. If approved, the legislation would allow the government to give big tech giants such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter, fines for not removing content deemed "illegal," an anonymous source told the Globe and Mail.

The size of the operation would "likely involve the creation of a new government regulator," creating a bureaucracy around what is on Canadian internet, the Globe continued. ...

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