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Online censorship continues to become a greater and greater reality in society. Not only is the UK’s Online Safety Bill pushing forth, but here in Canada people are wondering whether censorship is the name of the game when it comes to a new move out of Canada’s Online Streaming Act, formerly bill-C11.
The move goes after podcasters and services that provide podcasts. Here’s what you need to know about this new amendment:
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is now requiring online streamers and podcasters who make over $10 million in revenue to register with the CRTC.
This means it doesn’t suddenly require all content creators and podcasters to register. Nor does it censor them.
Companies would have to provide the legal name of their company, its address, its telephone number, email, and the type of services it offers.
The stated intention of the CRTC is to get major companies like CBC, CTV news, Spotify, etc. to pay into the Canadian content industry.
The amendment of the bill comes as powerful legacy media companies, like Bell and Rogers, lobby the government so competitors like Netflix and Disney+ have to pay into the Canadian content system.
The CRTC could ask for information about the content provided by companies, and information about its audience. What information? They aren’t clear and the language is rather vague.
This move on podcasts wasn’t an initial intention of the Online Streaming Act and has come out of nowhere. It’s also not clear as to where it will go next.
When it comes to asking for information about audiences, what might they ask for? Will it be the type of thing where eventually everything you listen to or watch heads back to the government in some way?
The language is so unclear, and yet governments have a history of continually pushing the envelope under the guise of “something good,” only for things to get out of hand quickly.
The Canadian government is making it up as they go along when it comes to this bill. After all, there still isn’t a clear definition of what “Canadian Content” even is, and yet they are trying to create more of it?
What happens if eventually, anything that isn’t Canadian content begins to be suppressed in algorithms in Canada as more changes to this bill come? All the government would have to do is say “THIS doesn’t qualify as Canadian content” and it’s done.
Perhaps a Canadian company like ours will not be considered “Canadian” one day because we critique the government and give voice to those who participated in events like The Freedom Convoy for example. How will we know as creators what governments will approve of? What if smaller platforms are eventually regulated?
By creating this uncertainty, creators are now unsure of what to do or create because they don’t know if it will match rules the government hasn’t yet made up. Anyone who takes their content creation business seriously has to consider these questions.
Canadaland CEO Jesse Brown reported on Bill C-11 over the last few years and was told by the Canadian government that the CRTC wasn’t interested in targeting podcasting but instead wanted to focus on “web giants.” Yet now, a successful podcaster or media outlet would be included in registration and likely regulation.
"What it's created in the short term is poison for an innovative industry, which is uncertainty, nobody knows how this is going to play out. Nobody knows what our obligations are going to be. Nobody knows if we're going to benefit from it." - Jesse Brown, Canadaland
He’s right, no one knows if they are going to benefit from these actions, and it’s reasonable to expect this will favor big companies and those the government approves of. We also have no clue what’s coming next.
I think back to the days before we were censored in 2016, our annual revenue was about $2.5M and on its way to $5M. By 2018 we projected we’d hit $10M. Our organic web traffic was greater than that of VICE and on the level of HuffingtonPost, CBC and others.
I’d be rather confused about how I’d make decisions moving forward given this bill. Not only that, I’d have to tell the government details about YOU, something I’d never want to share with government. Thankfully for now I don’t have to.
But keep in mind governments don’t need bills to oust people.
Starting in 2016 Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Fact Checkers targeted us and destroyed our business from the outside in. While most people don’t know our story because it happened before anyone believed or knew censorship was happening, it’s overt censorship like this that raises awareness amongst the citizenry.
Look at what happened to doctors and scientists during COVID, the US government colluded with Big Tech to silence certain people.
The good news is when they got censored people listened. Now, people look out for censorship as a legitimate issue. Perhaps the government is trying to find better ways of quietly getting the job done and perhaps this CRTC bill and the UK’s Online Safety Bill are going in that direction.
If people haven’t figured out yet that governments are concerned with the power of alternative media, podcasts, and other media sources in shaping public opinion, they need to pay closer attention.
To this day I believe we were taken out for many reasons, but a big reason was our reporting on the 2016 US election as it cast serious doubt on the legitimacy of Hillary Clinton. We exposed much of her and her foundation’s corrupt past and that content received millions of views. To note, we weren’t supporters of Trump, we were simply pointing out the low-quality individuals involved in politics and how that is an indictment of our current culture. But I believe our reach had the ability to impact elections. Just like Joe Rogan’s and Russel Brand’s does today.
Powerful people don’t like seeing their ability to control a narrative slip away. We saw this heavily with COVID. In some ways, we’re in an information war.
That said, I see the ‘war’ as a necessary process of a dying societal consciousness and the birth of a new one. It’s something we should expect and can be inspired by vs. fearful of if we think about it more deeply.
Speaking Up Is Important, But How We Do It Matters
Bills the Online Streaming Act and the UK Online Safety Bill attract anger and mistrust - rightfully so. No one likes being lied to around every corner and no one wants to feel like they never know what’s going on or where things are heading.
Nonetheless, we are in a moment when we as people must organize and connect in meaningful ways to shift the direction things are headed in.
In my view, people really have to begin asking: what do I want to emanate out into the world when it comes to my energy, sentiment, actions and the words I use to talk about these issues?
To me, we lose the game when we just start yelling: “Canada (or any other country) is a communist country now!!” Hyperbole is never effective except to create more division and polarization.
Yes, be angry for a moment if that response arises. Feel it, let it move through you in a healthy and non-destructive way, but then allow it to pass and from that space take thoughtful action and create meaningful conversation to raise awareness about something.
We must be able to clearly and effectively explain what is occurring to fellow citizens if we want them to open up to ideas. Battling them in an unclear ideological fight filled with swear words and ideological beliefs only furthers the divide. The facts we share must be clearly pointed to.
The end goal is coming to the table in good faith conversation, willing to listen to and understand one another. After all, for all we know we are wrong about some of the things we believe, and need to be flexible too.
When we converse in good faith, most of the time others will begin to see what is being said and open slightly - even if it takes time. At the very least, they begin to see the uncertainty in their own position. I’ve watched this happen for 15 years and can honestly say: yes, approach is everything.
The problem I have witnessed time and time again is people will hear about what’s going on in the world and turn to outrage as a baseline state of being. Comments, social media posts, and conversations with friends become a way to spew anger and frustration about it all.
Calling people names, making fun of them, and turning to hyperbolic banter becomes the norm. People then blame the elite for “creating divides” yet we are the ones who participate in it. Even most of the “big-time alt influencers” partake in this.
Yet rarely do people develop the self-awareness to stay grounded enough to clearly and meaningfully explain what is happening or what they believe to their friends and family.
This is the ‘levelling up’ that needs to occur within ourselves. Through that, our culture will shift too.
Our motto at Collective Evolution has always been Change Starts Within. If we aren’t modelling a grounded, expansive and empowered version of ourselves, we can’t expect others to be this way.
Looking at the truly great leaders of our world, like Martin Luther King Jr. as a relevant example, people who created movements, inspired people and got things done chose love, unity and intellect.
They connected to the spirit within themselves as much as they held a meaningful understanding of the problems at hand. I truly believe they had success because they inspired people across the gap through mind and spirit.
King believed in creating a tough mind and a tender heart. He says in Strength to Love:
“Let us consider, first, the need for a tough mind, characterized by incisive thinking, realistic appraisal, and decisive judgment. The tough mind is sharp and penetrating, breaking through the crust of legends and myths and sifting the true from the false. The tough-minded individual is astute and discerning. He has a strong, austere quality that makes for firmness of purpose and solidness of commitment.
[…] This prevalent tendency toward soft mindedness is found in man’s unbelievable gullibility. […] This undue gullibility is also seen in the tendency of many readers to accept the printed word of the press as final truth.
The hardhearted person lacks the capacity for genuine compassion. He is unmoved by the pains and afflictions of his brothers. He passes unfortunate men every day, but he never really sees them. He gives dollars to a worthwhile charity, but he gives not of his spirit.
The hardhearted individual never sees people as people, but rather as mere objects or as impersonal cogs in an ever-turning wheel. In the vast wheel of industry, he sees men as hands. In the massive wheel of big city life, he sees men as digits in a multitude. In the deadly wheel of army life, he sees men as numbers in a regiment. He depersonalizes life.
[…] We as Negroes must bring together tough mindedness and tenderheartedness, if we are to move creatively toward the goal of freedom and justice.”
What I take from these words are similar lessons I’ve learned throughout my work over the last 15 years.
We must not lose empathy for nor dehumanize leaders and fellow citizens. Losing empathy is an invitation from our current society that is unwell. We must maintain empathy and compassion for our fellow humans and consider what it looks like to engage with people we truly have empathy for. We must truly embody what it means to want to connect with one another, no matter our beliefs.
If MLK Jr. could say and do what he did when his fellow man was literally being killed in the streets just because of the color of their skin, I believe we can embrace this today.
Perhaps now is the time for each of us to become a leader. To not wait for another MLK Jr. to come along, but to embody these qualities and live by them. Perhaps then meaningful paths forward will emerge more naturally as we step out of the old order and ways of thinking.
As always I love how you guide it back to a deeper reflection in the end. It is uninspiring to be on social media these days and seeing all the hate being spewed in all directions. I like the words you shared from MLK there, and it's why I admire your many years long pursuit of trying to remind people of the need for spiritual and personal transformation. Keep going brother!!
I cannot afford to subscribe but I would like to share this article. I despise censorship and this looks like a foot in the door.