CRTC will take over 2 years to determine scope of Bill C-11: ex-Vice Chairperson

The former Vice Chairperson of the CRTC and a media company president clashed over who should define user generated content in their depositions on Bill C-11 to the Senate Committee on Transport and Communications Wednesday. Determining what counts as user generated content and what qualifies as a commercial enterprise will take the CRTC years, according to testimony from Peter Menzies, who served as Vice Chairperson (Telecommunications) of the regulatory body from 2014 to 2017. “It would take them two and a half years, not counting court appeals, and court challenges to C-11, to come up with a decision that even dealt with scope,” Menzies said. “During that period of time, everybody involved in trying to invest in the system doesn't know what the rules are.” Menzies asked the committee to explicitly direct the CRTC to not regulate user generated content and only focus on web giants. But Robert Armstrong, author of the book ‘Broadcasting Policy in Canada’, told the committee that Bill C-11 as it stands won’t impact user generated content. “I think the CRTC will have the good sense as it's done in the past, to simply exempt all of the small players,” Armstrong said. Armstrong agreed with Menzies on the two-year timeline to determine what content gets covered as a commercial enterprise. The CRTC could define a small player as a creator making less than $30 million annually, Armstrong and Menzies concurred. However, Menzies argued giving the CRTC leeway to determine what counts as user generated content would create room for abuse of power. Large corporations would have the resources to complain to the CRTC about unregulated creators in a hearing, while the small players wouldn’t know it was happening, Menzies argued. “If you leave the door open sooner or later, one aggrieved group or another will appear before the CRTC and ask for that to change,” Menzies said. “Then the next thing they know, they're not being able to upload to YouTube.” Three content creators gave depositions to the committee, warning Senators not to regulate the platforms that users make their living on. All three of them, however, clarified they only objected to Bill C-11’s impact on social media, arguing major streaming corporations don’t have the same low-barrier access for creators. Stewart Reynolds, otherwise known as Brittlestar or “The Internet's Favourite Dad” told Senators that compelling social media platforms to prioritize Canadian content will actually hurt creators in this country. “Forcing people to view content because it’s Canadian does not encourage people to like that content,” Reynolds said. “It would be like going to a restaurant that’s under ‘corn content’ or ‘corn-con rules’ and even though you ordered the Alberta sirloin, you receive a bowl of corn.” Former Global News Morning and Q107 host, Jennifer Valentyne, said women like her found employment opportunities as digital creators after being forced out by industry discrimination. Valentyne said she was losing sleep over Bill C-11 because of its potential to interfere with her income. “We’re all worried that if algorithms are manipulated, then our content won’t hit the right audience,” Valentyne said. “I just don’t understand why they can’t figure that out before they pass this bill.” The third creator, comedian Darcy Michael, told the committee he was in favour of Bill C-11 making web giants like Netflix and Apple pay for market access the same way legacy media does, but cautioned Senators to leave user generated content out of it. –Reporting by William Koblensky Varela and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

CRTC will take over 2 years to determine scope of Bill C-11: ex-Vice Chairperson

Broadcast | October 20, 2022

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CRTC will take over 2 years to determine scope of Bill C-11: ex-Vice Chairperson

Broadcast | October 20, 2022

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