Broken Promises: Canada’s Censorship Law Targets User-Generated Content Despite Assurances
The Canadian government has submitted a court filing, based on one of the country’s online censorship laws of recent years, the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11). And that filing critics say proves the opposite of what the authorities have been promising the law’s goal would be.
Namely, as C-11 was being pushed and eventually adopted, the promise was that it was not aimed at regulating user content on social media. But now a court filing reveals a very different story, observers of Canada’s, at this point burgeoning, online censorship legislation say.
C-11 was controversial – when it was proposed and debated, and eventually passed – but it’s just one of many over in Canada.
One thing the government said the Online Streaming Act wouldn’t do was affect third-party user content through regulation. However, the new court filing indicates that it, in fact, does.
C-11 was an updated version of C-10, and critics said before it became law that it addressed some of the precedent’s problems – but not the key ones.
The essence of the Online Streaming Act was to expand the powers of the Broadcasting Act to vest the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission) regulatory powers over online content as well – meaning Big Tech, such as YouTube (Google), all the way down to podcast clients.
Despite persistent protestations from government representatives to the contrary, the new court filing – that happened to be a response to a Google challenge – appears to paint a different picture.
“The Act does allow for regulation of user-uploaded programs on social media services,” the filing reads, as noticed by Professor Michael Geist.
The issue has always boiled down to whether Big Tech can be efficiently “taxed and regulated” – while third-party content they host remains unaffected. And these latest legal movements are not encouraging for “ordinary” internet users in Canada at all.
It was Google, trying to protect its business, that challenged CRTC ruling about online (and streaming) broadcasting fees.
The Canadian authorities wanted advertising dollars that come with user content to be inclined into revenue fees – despite the fact the ads are run by Google, not content creators.
Here C-11 comes out of the publicity closet and into its true life. Reads the filing:
“Contrary to the applicant’s (Google’s) position, the Act does allow for the regulation of user-uploaded programs on social media services, so long as certain conditions are met.”
CNN Unveils Rules for First Presidential Debate
With the opening presidential debate just ten days away, host CNN has provided the first details of the rules of engagement.
In a change to the format that is clearly aimed to benefit the President, candidates’ microphones will be muted except when it is their turn to speak. This will prevent candidates from interrupting each other. With Biden’s failing cognitive abilities, this change will clearly relieve some of the pressure on him and reduce the potential for confusion.
Candidates will not be allowed pre-written notes, but they will be given a pen, paper and a bottle of water.
The moderators—Jake Tapper and Dana Bash—had already been announced.
The rules also appear to prevent any third-party candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., from taking to the debate stage. To meet the requirements, a candidate must appear on enough state ballots to reach the 270 electoral-college threshold to win the presidency and have polled at least 15% in four separate national polls.
Although Kennedy is in the process of having his named entered on the ballot in all 50 states, he clearly doesn’t meet CNN’s requirements.
It’s widely believed that the debates will be of greater importance to the presidential race than the verdict in Trump’s recent “hush money” case. Polling has already showed that the verdict has had little effect on Trump’s popularity or the voting intentions of his supporters.
The debate will take place on 27 June, with a second scheduled for 9 October.
Breaking Exclusive! Tucker Carlson Breaks The Internet In Powerful Interview With Alex Jones
Indiana Cop Used Facial Recognition Scans to Preform Non-Work-Related Searches
The use of Clearview’s facial recognition tech by US law enforcement is controversial in and of itself, and it turns out some police officers can use it “for personal purposes.”
One such case happened in Evansville, Indiana, where an officer had to resign after an audit showed the tech was “misused” to carry out searches that had nothing to do with his cases.
Clearview AI, which has been hit with fines and much criticism – only to see its business go stronger than ever, is almost casually described in legacy media reports as “secretive.”
But that sits badly in juxtaposition of another description of the company, as peddling to law enforcement (and the Department of Homeland Security in the US) some of the most sophisticated facial recognition and search technology in existence.
However, the Indiana case is not about Clearview itself – the only reason the officer, Michael Dockery, and his activities got exposed is because of a “routine audit,” as reports put it. And the audit was necessary to get Clearview’s license renewed by the police department.
In other words, the focus is not on the company and what it does (and how much of what and how it does, citizens are allowed to know) but on there being audits, and those ending up in smoking out some cops who performed “improper searches.” It’s almost a way to assure people Clearview’s tech is okay and subject to proper checks.
But that remains hotly contested by privacy and rights groups, who point out that, to the surveillance industry, Clearview is the type of juggernaut Google is on the internet.
And the two industries meet here (coincidentally?) because face searches on the internet are what got the policeman in trouble. The narrative is that all is well with using Clearview – there are rules, one is to enter a case number before doing a dystopian-style search.
“Dockery exploited this system by using legitimate case numbers to conduct unauthorized searches (…) Some of these individuals had asked Dockery to run their photos, while others were unaware,” said a report.
But – why is any of this “dystopian”?
This is why. Last March, Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That told the BBC that the company had to date run nearly one million searches for US law enforcement matching them to a database of 30 billion images.
“These images have been scraped from people’s social media accounts without their permission,” a report said at the time.
Nato State’s President Calls for ‘Decolonization’ Coup of Russia
Polish President Andrzej Duda has called for the “decolonization” of Russia, claiming that ethnic minorities should break away from Moscow’s rule and form their own states.
Russia is one of the most diverse countries in the world and comprises over 190 ethnic groups that speak more than 270 languages and dialects, according to the government.
Speaking at the so-called “Peace for Ukraine” conference in Switzerland on Sunday, Duda described Russia as a “prison of nations.” The country is “home to almost 200 ethnic groups,” which “became the residents of Russia as a result of methods used in Ukraine today,” the Polish leader claimed, referring to the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
“Russia remains the largest colonial empire in the world, which, unlike European powers, has never undergone the process of decolonization and has never been able to deal with demons of its past,” Duda stated. “As a member of the international community, we have to finally say – there is no [space] for colonialism in the modern world.”
Poland has been one of the most vocal proponents of aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its military operation in the neighboring state. According to the Polish media, Duda’s main mission in Switzerland was to “highlight the scale of the Russian threat.”
READ MORE: EU leaders ‘fooling’ people with horror stories about Russia – Kremlin
Earlier this year, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk suggested his country’s readiness to potentially host US nuclear weapons, which Moscow called a “provocation” and “deeply hostile policy.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that Moscow has no intention of attacking NATO members and has dismissed claims to the contrary as scare tactics.
In August 2023, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote an op-ed for the Izvestia newspaper, condemning “the crimes of colonialism” committed by the West and arguing that Western overseas possessions, such as France’s New Caledonia, Britain’s Gibraltar, and US’ Guam, are modern-day “colonies.” She insisted that “the free world will undoubtedly win, and the process of decolonization will be completed.”
Biometric ID for IRS FOIA Requests Trigger Privacy & Access Concerns
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has come under fire for its decision to route Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests through a biometric identification system provided by ID.me. This arrangement requires users who wish to file requests online to undergo a digital identity verification process, which includes facial recognition technology.
Concerns have been raised about this method of identity verification, notably the privacy implications of handling sensitive biometric data. Although the IRS states that biometric data is deleted promptly—within 24 hours in cases of self-service and 30 days following video chat verifications—skeptics, including privacy advocates and some lawmakers, remain wary, particularly as they don’t believe people should have to subject themselves to such measures in the first place.
Criticism has particularly focused on the appropriateness of employing such technology for FOIA requests. Alex Howard, the director of the Digital Democracy Project, expressed significant reservations. He stated in an email to FedScoop, “While modernizing authentication systems for online portals is not inherently problematic, adding such a layer to exercising the right to request records under the FOIA is overreach at best and a violation of our fundamental human pure right to access information at worst, given the potential challenges doing so poses.”
Although it is still possible to submit FOIA requests through traditional methods like postal mail, fax, or in-person visits, and through the more neutral FOIA.gov, the IRS’s online system defaults to using ID.me, citing speed and efficiency.
An IRS spokesperson defended this method by highlighting that ID.me adheres to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines for credential authentication. They explained, “The sole purpose of ID.me is to act as a Credential Service Provider that authenticates a user interested in using the IRS FOIA Portal to submit a FOIA request and receive responsive documents. The data collected by ID.me has nothing to do with the processing of a FOIA request.”
Despite these assurances, the integration of ID.me’s system into the FOIA request process continues to stir controversy as the push for online digital ID verification is a growing and troubling trend for online access.
No More ‘Endless’ Payments to Zelensky – Trump
Former US President Donald Trump has said that he would stop handing over tens of billions of dollars to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, promising to have the situation in Ukraine “settled” if he is re-elected this year.
“I think Zelensky is maybe the greatest salesman of any politician that’s ever lived,”Trump told supporters at ‘The People’s Convention’, a conservative conference held by Turning Point Action in Michigan on Saturday.
“Every time he comes to our country, he walks away with $60 billion,” Trump said of the Ukrainian leader. “So now here’s the beauty. He just left four days ago with $60 billion, and he gets home and he announces that he needs another $60 billion or else it never ends, it never ends.”
The US and other G7 nations on Thursday announced a $50 billion loan for Ukraine, which would be backed by revenue generated by roughly $300 billion in frozen Russian assets. While Zelensky did not ask for “another $60 billion” after leaving the G7 gathering in Italy, he has repeatedly chided his Western backers for not handing over sufficient quantities of cash and weapons, and intensely lobbied Republican lawmakers in Washington to approve a $61 billion military aid package in April.
Read more Trump comments on his relations with Putin
“I will have that settled prior to taking the White House,” Trump told the crowd in Michigan. “As president-elect, I will have that settled.” Trump then reiterated, as he has on numerous occasions since 2022, that the Ukraine conflict “never would have happened” had he been president.
Trump has repeatedly argued that US President Joe Biden’s policy of open-ended military support for Ukraine is leading the US toward a “third world war,” and has promised that he would end the conflict “in 24 hours” if he defeats Biden in this November’s presidential election.
Trump has never fully elaborated on how he would do this, save for forcing Zelensky to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but recent reports by Bloomberg and the Washington Post suggest that he would leverage the US’ massive military assistance to Kiev to pressure Zelensky into accepting the loss of some of Ukraine’s pre-conflict territory.
However, Trump did not lobby his Congressional allies to block the $61 billion aid package in April, and said at the time that he would support lending, rather than gifting, money to Zelensky in future.