Elon Musk has responded to a Twitter comment asking if he will help “fight back” against the Liberal government’s Bill C-11, which will grant Canada’s broadcasting authority the power to regulate online content.
Musk’s response came minutes after the group Canada Proud posted a question asking him if will take action against the Liberals’ online streaming bill now that he has bought Twitter.
“Hey @ElonMusk, now that you own Twitter, will you help fight back against Trudeau’s online censorship bill C-11?” said Canada Proud, which describes itself as a “grassroots group of Canadians working to defeat Justin Trudeau.”
Musk recently acquired Twitter in a US$44 billion deal, delisting the company from the New York Stock Exchange and firing top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal, according to multiple media reports.
On April 25, when Twitter officially announced the deal that would turn it into a privately held company, Musk stressed the importance of upholding free speech in a democracy, including in the digital domain.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” the billionaire said in a statement.
“I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans.”
Bill C-11
If C-11 passes, it will amend the Broadcasting Act and bring streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon under the regulating powers of the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), granting it the authority to control what content is available to Canadians on the platforms.
The bill, which has passed the House of Commons and is currently before the Senate, will also apply to user-generated content on common streaming platforms like YouTube, requiring them to promote Canadian artists.
Opposition to Bill C-11 has been mounting since its introduction.
In August, the Consumer Technology Association, one of the world’s largest tech trade groups, wrote to the Senate transport and communications committee warning that the bill will place a “regulatory hand” on how consumers choose content and must be rewritten.
On Oct. 5, Google published a blog post by YouTube’s chief product officer Neal Mohan, saying Bill C-11 has the potential to “disadvantage the Canadian creators.”
“In its current form, Bill C-11 would require YouTube to manipulate these systems, and surface content according to the CRTC’s priorities, rather than the interests of Canadian users,” Mohan wrote.
“Put into practice, this means that when viewers come to the YouTube homepage, they’re served content that a Canadian Government regulator has prioritized, rather than content they are interested in.”
In response, Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez claimed that Google was “trying to intimidate Canadians.” He added that the proposed law simply asks streamers—including YouTube, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet—to contribute to Canadian culture.
Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 20, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)
The next day on Oct. 6, Digital First Canada, a group that advocates for Canadian content creators, wrote a letter to the Senate, warning that the bill could put the careers of the very artists the Liberal government claims it wants to protect “at risk.”
“Earlier this year, over 40,000 creators and users raised our voices in the House and through letters to defend our digital businesses against these changes. We were ignored,” the letter said.
“We now turn to the Senate, and ask you to review this legislation to ensure that thousands of digital creators across the country can continue to innovate, build communities online and grow.”
Conservative Senator Leo Housakos took to Twitter on Oct. 30, urging fellow senators to fix C-11 or “kill it.”
“Senators on the transport and communications committee have heard from dozens of witnesses warning about the dangers of C-11. With widespread opposition to the bill coming from all corners of the country, the Senate should fix it or kill it,” he said.
