The Liberals are Looking to Abolish Canadians’ Freedom on the Internet

In a move that goes against any true idea of liberalism, the Trudeau “Liberals” are looking to amend Bill C-10 to remove the social media exemption, in order to allow the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to police user-generated videos posted to social media. Critics consider the latest amendment passed on Monday an attack on Canadian’s right to free speech.

Currently Bill C-10, “An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts”, is being closely scrutinized by the Heritage committee; a committee with a significant Liberal majority.

This attempt by the Trudeau Liberals is so egregious that even the former CRTC commissioner, Peter Menzies, criticized the move stating  

Granting a government agency authority over legal user-generated content, particularly when backed up by the government’s musings about taking down websites, doesn’t just infringe on free expression, it constitutes a full-blown assault upon it and, through it, the foundations of democracy.

Even if the CRTC doesn’t follow through with its new powers and chooses not to implement any regulations covering user-generated content, the fact that the law would now enable the regulator to do so is problematic, They would still hold the hammer of legislative power over everyone’s head and that would intimidate free expression. Even without conditions, people would still be speaking with the CRTC’s permission

It’s difficult to contemplate the levels of moral hubris, incompetence, or both that would lead people to believe such an infringement of rights is justifiable 

When the bill was first introduced the Trudeau government had included a clause exempting content created by individuals, but this clause was removed by the parliamentary committee during the final review stages for the bill. This would enable the CRTC to treat videos posted to platforms such as YouTube or TikTok the same as it does any broadcast network.

A spokesperson for Heritage Minister Steven Guibeault’s office stated the move was not intended to stifle individual speech, going on to say that, “Where content uploaded by individual users is curated by a platform and is deemed of significant impact, that platform, not the users, could be subject to the Broadcasting Act”.

But, with Guilbeault’s latest statement regarding giving Ottawa the power to order platforms to take down content deemed objectionable, many critics aren’t buying the narrative. University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, asking Guilbeault to clarify his logic in drafting such regulation,

Conservative Shadow Minister for Heritage, Alain Rayes, said in a statement that this bill would provide too much power to the CRTC by allowing it to oversee content posted online.

Even Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, who’s received widespread criticism for making consistent moves left from the positions he staked out in the leadership, has slammed the legislation calling it an attack on Canadian’s freedoms.

Currently, though, it appears as though the fight for the rights of Canadians are being lost on all fronts in our parliament, as the NDP will likely be supporting the Liberal bill

Other amendments to Canada’s online content regulations include a crackdown on “hate speech”, despite the fact that such speech is already illegal, as well as regulations surrounding the use of copyright material, including news sources, further limiting the information Canadians would have access to online.

It appears as though Trudeau’s Liberal government is looking to eliminate Canadian freedoms online, as they are being eliminated in the public square, all done through the guise of safety. It seems Canadians should’ve paid more attention to the warning signs coming from this administration.