QUESTION PERIOD — Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Access to Canadian Media
March 2, 2022
Honourable senators, my question is also for the government leader.
On the weekend, Senator Gold, Bell, Rogers and Shaw all announced their intention to stop carrying the Russian propaganda service Russia Today, known as RT, on their cable services, but that was a purely voluntary gesture on their part, and RT remains accessible to other cable subscribers in Canada. Just today, Twitter announced that it would remove the accounts of RT and Sputnik News in Europe as a result of EU sanctions. But that policy doesn’t apply here in Canada.
With the full understanding that the CRTC is, of course, an arm’s-length regulatory agency, can you please tell us what the Canadian government is doing to reduce the volume of Russian propaganda on Canadian cable and social media sites?
Thank you, senator, for the question. It’s an important one. The government is and has been working closely with the social media sites and has been working as well with its partners and allies to address the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the disinformation campaign and cybercampaigns that have been launched to support it.
I do not have details to share with you, but this chamber should be confident that the government, as has been revealed in the preceding days, is keeping all options on the table, and careful work is being done — everything that Canada can do — to help resist the Russian aggression. That includes the area of cyberspace.
Senator Gold, I’ve also fielded a lot of questions from Canadians in the last few days about FOX News, which is a mandatory part of most basic cable packages in Canada. Given increased public concerns about disinformation and misinformation on FOX News, is the government able to reconsider the prerequisites and standards for granting broadcast licences and cable carriage in this country?
Again, thank you for your question; it’s a rather large one. I don’t have a specific answer for you, but this chamber is well aware that legislation is forthcoming from the government to address many issues surrounding social media platforms. At that point, I think, it would be a good opportunity for us to learn more about what the government’s plans are in this regard.
