IN-DEPTH: What Do the CRTC’s Public Consultations on Banning Fox News Entail?

A Fox News channel sign is on a television vehicle outside the News Corporation building in New York City on Nov. 8, 2017. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

The fact that Canada’s broadcast regulator is holding public consultations on whether to ban Fox News, after receiving a complaint from an LGBTQ rights advocacy organization, is highly unusual, given that only one channel has been removed in recent years from the list of approved foreign broadcasters on Canadian cable television.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) removed Russia Today (RT) from Canadian cable packages in early 2022 shortly after the government issued an order-in-council asking the regulator to do so following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The CRTC removed both RT and RT France—the latter a French-language version of the Russian state-sponsored broadcaster—from its “list of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution” in March 2022.

The regulator said at the time that the channels were “not in the public interest as their content appears to constitute abusive comment since it tends or is likely to expose the Ukrainian people to hatred or contempt on the basis of their race, national or ethnic origin and that their programming is antithetical to the achievement of the policy objectives of the Broadcasting Act.”

The removal of the Russian broadcasters came after public consultations in which the CRTC received over 370 submissions, out of which 350 supported banning RT from Canadian cable packages.

Only 16 submissions opposed banning the Russian state broadcaster.

CRTCs has not issued similar bans to China’s state-owned CGTN and CCTV-4. Human rights groups, including Safeguard Defenders, have asked CRTC to block them for years, presenting the regulator with evidence of the networks airing forced confessions in China.

Fox News Consultations

The CRTC’s online public consultations on Egale Canada’s request to ban Fox News from cable packages, which began on May 3 and will end June 2, do not appear to be producing similar results as the case of RT. Of the over 160 submissions in less than a week, as of the morning of May 8, over 70 percent were opposed to banning Fox. Currently, on May 9, there are over 1,000 submissions.

Through the consultations, the CRTC is seeking the public’s feedback on Egale’s request that Fox News be removed from the list of non-Canadian programming authorized for distribution in Canada in response to comments made by former show host Tucker Carlson.

Egale wrote an open letter outlining its request on April 4, at which time Carlson was still employed by Fox News.

Egale’s complaint was in response to Carlson saying on a segment of his show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on March 28 that some transgender people “seem to be mad, specifically at traditional Christians.”

Carlson’s comments came shortly after a shooter identifying as transgender killed several children and adults at a private Christian school in Nashville on March 27.

Carlson has since left the network.

Interventions

At the time of writing, around noon on May 8, 161 Canadians had submitted interventions through the CRTC’s online public consultation portal on whether Fox News should be banned from Canadian airwaves.

The Epoch Times reviewed the interventions and found that 113 voiced opposition to Egale’s request to ban Fox, while 48 supported the group’s position.

Most of the 113 respondents opposed to banning the American media outlet said doing so would infringe on freedom of speech and the press, while many of those in favour of a ban said Fox News knowingly spreads false information.

“In a free society, we don’t ban media simply because somebody’s feelings got hurt,” said a respondent from Ottawa.

“I strongly agree to have Fox news removed. I believe they do not accurately report the news,” said another respondent from Powassan, Ontario. “Sometimes people need to be protected from being used as a tool for fringe groups.”

Several respondents who voiced opposition to the possible ban identified as being part of the LGBTQ community, but said they are not in favour of banning channels.

“I’m gay. EGALE Canada has grossly overstepped itself in this submission,” said one respondent from Calgary.

“As a person who identifies as LGBTQ2SI, I firmly believe Canadians are able to decide for themselves which cable channels they want or don’t want,” said another respondent from Moncton, N.B.

Both individuals and organizations can submit an intervention through the CRTC’s online portal here.

Decision

The CRTC’s eight commissioners representing different regions of Canada will make the final decision as to whether Fox News is allowed to stay on the country’s cable packages.

There are ordinarily nine CRTC commissioners, but the position representing Quebec is currently vacant.

The CRTC will make its decision on the matter after closing the public consultation in early June.

The Epoch Times asked the CRTC for additional details on why it is considering banning Fox News and its decision-making process with regard to a possible ban, but it declined to comment.

“This request is in front on the commission and we cannot comment on it at the moment,” the regulator said in an emailed statement.

When the CRTC announced its ban on RT in March 2022, the decision came less than two weeks after the regulator opened consultations with the public.

Andrew Chen contributed to this report.