(OTTAWA) The CRTC chief acknowledges that a federal bill currently in Parliament would give it the power to regulate home videos posted on digital platforms like YouTube.
Posted at 4:04 PM
But Ian Scott predicts that this control will never happen, because the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (RTC) has no interest in overseeing this online content.
Scott’s comments, which they say run counter to the assertions made by the Heritage Secretary so far, were quickly taken advantage of by critics of the federal Internet broadcasting bill.
Pablo Rodriguez has always emphasized that the law will not give the CRTC the power to regulate user-generated content such as “cat videos”.
At a meeting of the Canadian Heritage Standing Committee on a study of the show Wednesday evening in Ottawa, Mr. Scott, in response to questions from a Conservative MP, acknowledged that the Liberal government in its current form would effectively allow the CRTC to regulate user-generated content if necessary.
Bill C-11, currently before Parliament, would give the CRTC the power to regulate not only traditional broadcasters, but also online platforms such as YouTube, Netflix and Spotify.
The Canadian Heritage Department did not yet respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Google says the government should add language to the bill to explicitly exempt user-generated content to protect Canadians who make a living by creating videos for digital platforms.
