User-generated content excluded from Bill C-11, says Ottawa

Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez defends Bill C-11 to regulate Internet streaming in the Senate .

The Minister of Canadian Heritage has said he is ready to consider amendments to his bill to regulate online streaming, after a Senate committee pointed out that industry experts were concerned that the legislative text thus drafted would also cover user-generated content.

I was born with an open mind, so of course I have an open mind to this subject, said Pablo Rodriguez before the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications.

I cannot say at the moment: yes, I would agree or disagree with […] an amendment that I have never read […] But on the general principle, we are open.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage came to the Senate on Tuesday to defend his Internet streaming bill, which would amend the Broadcasting Act and would grant new powers to the CRTC.

Bill C-11, introduced in the Commons in February, aims to force online streaming giants, such as YouTube or TikTok, to contribute to the creation and delivery of Canadian cultural content, such as the music, film and television. Minister Rodriguez has been hammering since his bill does not seek to regulate user-generated content like cat videos on YouTube.

However, the bill has raised many concerns. The “web giants” are against it and argue that the bill would hurt the income of users who generate content on the platforms. The web giants also argue that these new rules could force them to review the algorithms they use in Canada.

Several senators also have reservations. Conservative Sen. Michael MacDonald pointed out Tuesday that the standing committee had heard concerns from experts that creators would be covered by the bill.

Pamela Wallin of the Canadian Senators Group added that the Chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) had already appeared before the Senate committee alongside legal counsel to confirm that the bill, as written, would give his agency authority over user-generated content.

What they said was that it “wouldn't be in anyone's interest to do so, so trust us, we won't regulate user-generated content.” users" — but again, they have twice confirmed that they have the authority to do so, she told the minister.

Ms Wallin argues that x27;she even heard from a content creator who found the bill so confusing and vague that she would move to the United States to escape it.

Senators MacDonald and Wallin asked Mr. Rodriguez if he would step in to make changes to the bill to alleviate those concerns, but the minister offered no commitment, as he is still convinced that the law would not cover user-generated content.

The obligations [of the law] are at the platform level, he said. Why? Because we are talking about contributions, in terms of revenue, to the creation of Canadian content. The second thing is to make it easier to find Canadian content.

It's not the creators who are going to do that, insisted the Minister.

He argued that the bill was intended to protect Canadian culture, provide more choice to Canadians, meet the needs of minority language communities and make bring industry regulation into the 21st century.

He recalled that the last time the Broadcasting Act was modernized, Canadians were listening to music on walkmans, renting movies from the video store, and the Internet had just been born. Today, he said, there are online streaming platforms like Netflix, one can watch TV on a phone and the content is even filmed and edited on phones.

< p class="e-p">The law no longer reflects reality: you have very big players who have no rules to follow and there are huge challenges around culture and production, and things that affect our creators and Canadian content,” he told senators. This is why it is important today that we can pass this bill quickly.

Bill C-11 has been before the Senate for six months , where it was the subject of 42 hours of hearings before the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications. It passed third reading in the Commons in June.