OTTAWA – The CRTC on Monday published its plan to tackle the implementation of the new law that will require digital platforms to contribute to Canadian content.
As part of the first phase of its implementation of bill C-11, which became law late last month, the CRTC said it will publish an information bulletin “clarifying technical details for broadcasters” this spring, which ends June 21. In this phase it will also hold consultations including who should contribute, how much and how (the CRTC is proposing streaming services that have more than $10 million in annual revenues); which streaming services will need to register with the regulator; and changes to orders under which online services have operated in Canada (online services are currently subject to the digital media exemption order).
For the second phase, starting in the fall, the CRTC will hold consultations related to how fees paid by broadcasters would be extended to online platforms. In the winter, it will hold public consultations which “may include” reviewing the definition of Canadian content; evaluating market access, news and local programming and competitive behaviours; assessing tools to support Canadian audio content; tools to develop and support indigenous content; and protecting consumers with an examination of broadcaster codes of conduct.
The third and final phase will be about implementing the decisions coming from those previous two phases.
In an accompanying release about the “myths and facts” about the law, the CRTC said users of social media will not be subject to the Broadcasting Act amendments, which was a primary sticking point of debate in Parliament. It also noted that it will not regulate digital creators, including “YouTubers,” “influencers” on other social media platforms, podcasters, and producers of content for sale to streaming services like Netflix.
The regulator also said it will not regulate algorithms, the machine-learning process used by tech platforms to determine what people see.
However, the CRTC may require streaming companies make more prominent Canadian content on their platforms as part of its contribution to Canadian content.
“We will not censor the content Canadians listen to and watch online,” noted the CRTC, which also proposed to exempt video games because they are “not broadcasting content.”
