Bill C-11 Threatens Free Expression in Canada and Beyond

CIPPIC Director Vivek Krishnamurthy highlighted the risks that Bill C-11 [1] poses to the right to free expression in Canada and beyond in his testimony before the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications [2] on October 18, 2022. By extending Canada’s incredibly broad definition of “broadcasting” and “programs [3]” to practically all audiovisual content online, subject only to the weak and confusing exceptions for “social media”  provided by s. 4, Bill C-11 provides an ideal template for authoritarian governments to emulate in regulating social media content for their own ends. Bill C-11’s provisions in this regard are especially problematic since they are tied to measures that seek to promote what the government defines as “Canadian content” on social media services. The danger of such a regime in the online sphere is clear to see as increasingly authoritarian countries like India seek to strip members of minority communities of their citizenship rights [4]. Krishnamurthy’s Senate testimony is available to view on the Parliamentary website [5].