OpenMedia calls federal digital policy ‘disaster’, makes pitches for feds’ consideration

Advocacy group OpenMedia has put together a roster of digital policy recommendations that it hopes will spur politicians into action following the Apr. 28 federal election. The group does not like what it sees in the current landscape, terming the status quo “a policy disaster.” “Basic, long overdue regulations to protect our online privacy and online safety keep failing in a distracted and disinterested Parliament," it writes. “Real action to break up our domestic Big Telecom monopolists and fix market abuses by foreign Big Tech is nowhere to be seen.” OpenMedia executive director Matt Hatfield expanded on those thoughts in an interview with The Wire Report. “If we were going to give a report card on the government’s digital policies over the last 10 years, what would that report card look like?” he asks. “Essentially, you’d have a few Cs or Ds of things that did pass, you’d have a lot of incompletes because they just didn’t get the job done, and then you’d have a bunch of ‘Did Not Attends’ or ‘Did Not Start.’” Three government bills — the Cybersecurity Act, the Digital Charter Implementation Act and the Online Harms Act — died on the order paper when the election was called. In addition, a private members bill on online harms had been introduced by Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary-Nose Hill, Alta.). The OpenMedia paper recommends a secure Canadian web, without reliance on foreign services or a single point of failure to function. It seeks guaranteed home and wireless internet for all Canadians at an affordable price. It also wants cybersecurity laws that provide a proper balance between privacy and freedom of expression. READ MORE: - As online harms bill splits in two, advocates continue seeking amendments - Conservative MPs discuss possibility Liberal, Tory online harms bills could be studied together - Four cyber bills dead on the order paper as Parliament prorogued The document calls for government agencies and critical infrastructure providers to use Canadian cloud services and store sensitive information in this country. Hatfield concedes not all internet service providers (ISPs) have the capacity to do this at present. “In some cases there is, and in some cases we need to build it,” he states. “In many cases, Canadian providers choose to send data to the States because it’s a little bit cheaper for them even when they could be routing it within Canada.” The OpenMedia paper pitches an end to foreign contracts for connectivity, even in remote and rural regions of the nation. Chief among those is Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SpaceX) subsidiary Starlink. The lobby group feels Telesat Corp. is among those who could be utilized. “The government should commit to not buying any Starlink services, and instead increase public funding for fibre-optic networks, Telesat service, and community broadband projects to build long-term sovereign connectivity,” the document says. Hatfield does not believe Starlink should be a major player in this country. “The Canadian government needs to look at that situation and see, are we comfortable with an American company and a Musk company being this important a part of our connectivity,” he said Hatfield noted the American government “is increasingly volatile,” and flagged worries that Musk’s Starlink might cut other countries off from service if there are disputes between them. Following a clash with a Polish official regarding concerns Starlink would shut down satellite terminals in Ukraine, Musk said in a social media post in early March that “no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals.” In terms of privacy, OpenMedia opines that current regulations for corporate respect for privacy are weak. The government has not acted to update the rules, although it has twice tried to do so. The incoming government must correct this, the group believes. It should also update privacy considerations for the public sector. The Privacy Act must be modernized, the organization says. The current exemption for political parties in privacy laws should be rescinded as well, the group states. Currently parties do not have to adhere to the same privacy laws as private corporations. Many changes to the cybersecurity regime were contained in Bill C-26, which died in the Senate when the election was called. Hatfield is advocating for reintroduced legislation that will correct three flaws OpenMedia said it found in the old bill. It must protect encryption, and ensure transparency by requiring governments to release orders affecting telecom companies in a timely manner. Hatfield wants to see such orders published within three, six, or 12 months of them being issued. To guarantee a sovereign Canadian internet, the group calls on the government to break up “Big Tech’s” power to use surveillance-based advertising. The media landscape must be improved through diverse private media companies and a strong public broadcaster, it states. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and biometric recognition should be subject to full public consultations. Canada should also invest in community-owned broadband and mesh networks that serve local needs, OpenMedia concludes. In news gathering, the group calls on CBC/Radio-Canada to provide local news in news deserts. The Online News Act should be repealed, OpenMedia said, so news might be shared on social media platforms again, after social media companies cut off the ability to share news content on their sites in retaliation for the requirements of the act. The operators of large online search engines or social media services making over $1 billion in global revenues that have at least 20 million monthly active Canadian users must negotiate deals with Canadian news organizations to pay them for distributing their news content. The group additionally asserts that CBC should drop advertising from news broadcasts and that the corporation’s funding should be increased. Hatfield states that too often OpenMedia is looked upon by government as nay-sayers. He thinks it is offering the new government positive messages through the policy paper. At the very least, he hopes a conversation on digital regulations will begin again. With files from The Wire Report’s archives. ppark@thewirereport.ca

OpenMedia calls federal digital policy ‘disaster’, makes pitches for feds’ consideration

Broadcast |
By Paul Park
| April 17, 2025

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us

OpenMedia calls federal digital policy ‘disaster’, makes pitches for feds’ consideration

Broadcast | By Paul Park | April 17, 2025

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us

Broadcast |
By Paul Park
| April 17, 2025