Tag: Bill C-11

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Bill C-11 heats up discussion at Canadian Heritage Committee meeting

The Government of Canada’s website says Bill C-11 will support Canadian creators, but at least two content creators don’t believe this to be true.

Darcy Michael and Oorbee Roy told the Canadian Heritage Committee they have concerns on how Bill C-11, also known as the Online Streaming Act, will regulate creators.

“I’m very concerned about how this is going to affect all of us artists, especially in the digital space,” Roy told the committee.

Roy, also known as @auntyskates on TikTok, is a content creator and skateboarding mom who shares videos of herself performing tricks on a halfpipe. She started her TikTok account in February 2021 to share some positivity, and amassed 100,000 followers in four months.

Darcy Michael (@thedarcymichael) is a comedian and actor who previously worked for broadcast corporations and currently creates his own content. He starred in CTV’s comedy series Spun Out and has a stand-up comedy special on Crave. After a deal with Bell Media to make a sitcom fell through, followed by a series of similar rejections and the onset of the pandemic, Michael decided to take his talents to social media. 18 months after first joining TikTok, his account has amassed over 2.7 million followers. The content he makes reaches 40 to 60 million every month on the app alone.

“For the first time in my career, I’m reaching Canadian households that I could have only dreamed about before,” Michael told the committee.

Bill C-11 focuses on making Canadian content more accessible and applies the same rules as broadcasters to streaming companies. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will govern these rules.

But questions remain on how far the regulations will go and how Canadian content will be made more accessible.

Michael said the CRTC would impact creativity if they have any say on what is goes through an algorithm compared to user-generated content. “User-generated content exists because it works. It’s popular because it works,” he said. “Much like all the politicians here are a result of user-generated votes.”

The meeting soon got heated when MP Chris Bittle said the CRTC wouldn’t regulate content that creators uploaded and asked Michael to cite the specific section of the bill he’s concerned with, interrupting him many times.

Michael answered Bittle multiple times, citing concerns about the broadness of the act and the possible involvement of the CRTC. Michael said Bittle’s answer doesn’t alleviate his concerns about the CRTC.

No answer satisfied Bittle, who continued his stern questioning until MP Rachael Thomas raised a point of order, saying Bittle was “harassing the witness” as Michael had answered his previous questions.

Roy explained that if the content from broadcasters is regulated, independent creators like herself and Michael will have to compete to get viewers, but her point didn’t seem to get across to everyone listening.

Government officials haven’t approved Bill C-11 at this time.

Image credit: Canadian Heritage Committee/ screenshot 

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Bill C-11 won’t impact user-generated content, Heritage Minister says

Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez says Bill C-11 is a necessity for Canadians.

He made the comments during a discussion on the final day of the Canadian Media Producers Association’s Prime Time conference, a report from Cartt states.

“Things have changed, and we know we need these streamers to contribute to our culture, to our system, to how we tell our own stories,” he said.

Also known as the Online Streaming Act, the bill aims to regulate online streaming services under the same rules as Canadian broadcasters. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will serve as the governing body.

Rodriguez said he believes the CRTC has the experience to handle the bill once approved, but the government will be providing more resources, so the commission will have “everything they need to do the job once C-11 is adopted.

A similar act, Bill C-10, was introduced before the 2021 federal election but died at the bench. Rodriguez said the government addressed the criticisms it received in Bill C-10 when working on the new bill.

“I think we brought the necessary changes to the bill to reassure them and to make sure that platforms are in and users are out. So that means if you and I decide to sing a song together and to post it well, even if it’s beautiful, it’s not going to be regulated,” he said.

He said creators making money off their content wouldn’t be “impacted by this bill,” a concern voiced by critics of the bill.

At a panel hosted the day before Rodriguez spoke, Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s chief business officer, said the bill could potentially threaten creativity in Canada.

Kyncl raised concerns the new rules would impact Canadian content viewed by a worldwide audience. “Anything through the bill that would negatively impact that is simply going to hurt the creative community in Canada. And that’s not the intent of the government,” he said.

While not answering Kyncl’s comments directly, Rodriguez said the bill wouldn’t regulate user-generated content.

Image credit: CPAC (screenshot)

Source: Cartt.ca

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YouTube’s chief business officer raises concerns on Bill C-11

Warsaw, Poland – 10.06.2020: Youtube app on the smartphone. Youtube videos and films. Video streaming. Surrounded by true wireless earbuds. Watching films with Galaxy Buds – TWS.

YouTube’s chief business officer says Bill C-11 is a potential threat to Canadian creativity.

“It’s a net contributor to the country. It’s a lot of self-employment happening by amazing creative entrepreneurs creating other jobs,” Robert Kyncl said at the media production conference, Prime Time 2022, earlier this week.

He said the platform contributed 34,000 jobs and $923 million in economic benefits to Canada in 2020.

The bill, also known as the Online Streaming Act, was introduced earlier this month and focuses on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) governing streaming companies, like YouTube, under the same rules as Canadian broadcasters.

But many are concerned about what the bill would mean for free speech, arguing rules from the broadcast area aren’t a one size fits all solution to regulate streaming on the internet.

As reported by Cartt, Kyncl said 90 percent of content made by Canadians on YouTube is available to viewers around the world, and the bill could undermine this.

“Anything through the bill that would negatively impact that is simply going to hurt the creative community in Canada. And that’s not the intent of the government,” he said. “But sometimes you pass things, and then there’s unintended consequences.”

Image credit: ShutterStock

Source: Cartt.ca

Categories
Mobile Syrup

YouTube’s chief business officer raises concerns on Bill C-11

Warsaw, Poland – 10.06.2020: Youtube app on the smartphone. Youtube videos and films. Video streaming. Surrounded by true wireless earbuds. Watching films with Galaxy Buds – TWS.

YouTube’s chief business officer says Bill C-11 is a potential threat to Canadian creativity.

“It’s a net contributor to the country. It’s a lot of self-employment happening by amazing creative entrepreneurs creating other jobs,” Robert Kyncl said at the media production conference, Prime Time 2022, earlier this week.

He said the platform contributed 34,000 jobs and $923 million in economic benefits to Canada in 2020.

The bill, also known as the Online Streaming Act, was introduced earlier this month and focuses on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) governing streaming companies, like YouTube, under the same rules as Canadian broadcasters.

But many are concerned about what the bill would mean for free speech, arguing rules from the broadcast area aren’t a one size fits all solution to regulate streaming on the internet.

As reported by Cartt, Kyncl said 90 percent of content made by Canadians on YouTube is available to viewers around the world, and the bill could undermine this.

“Anything through the bill that would negatively impact that is simply going to hurt the creative community in Canada. And that’s not the intent of the government,” he said. “But sometimes you pass things, and then there’s unintended consequences.”

Image credit: ShutterStock

Source: Cartt.ca