Liberals’ online streaming bill set to become law after passing Senate – National | 24CA News
A federal invoice that may drive digital platforms like Netflix and YouTube to contribute financially to Canadian content material is on the cusp of turning into legislation.
The Liberals’ on-line streaming invoice handed its closing vote within the Senate right now and is now simply awaiting royal assent.
The invoice updates the Broadcasting Act to carry on-line streaming platforms below the regulatory authority of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
It additionally units steep penalties for digital platforms that don’t make Canadian content material out there to their customers in Canada.
The authorities says the invoice won’t apply to people who put up on social media which had been a chief concern of opponents to the invoice.
It will apply to platforms like Facebook and TikTok that distribute industrial packages like sporting occasions or stay singing competitions.
Once the invoice receives royal assent a coverage directive shall be issued to the CRTC, which is required to develop rules following consultations with the general public.
Quebec Sen. Marc Gold, the Liberal authorities’s consultant within the Senate, says platforms that make cash from their industrial actions should reinvest in Canadian creators and native content material.
Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, who sponsored the invoice, says it merely requires streamers to contribute to Canadian tradition.
“It’s a bill that’s been well studied in the House and the Senate,” Rodriguez mentioned Tuesday.
“It’s the longest in the history of Canada, and it’s a very important bill. So I’m looking forward for the bill to pass, and yes, I am excited.”
The Liberal invoice has been extensively supported by the NDP and Bloc Quebecois, however the Conservatives have known as it a “censorship” invoice and ran fundraising campaigns to “kill Bill C-11.”
Conservative senators tried to stall the invoice’s progress when it arrived again within the Senate final week, which prompted Gold to introduce a time-allocation movement that restricted additional debate to 6 hours.
In the tip the controversy at third and closing studying didn’t even final that lengthy, and it got here to its closing vote Thursday night.
This invoice was the second try by the Liberals to get a web-based streaming invoice handed. The first model launched in 2020 didn’t go earlier than the 2021 election.
It was reworked after which reintroduced in February 2022.
The Senate spent 67 hours learning the invoice on the committee stage alone, listening to from 138 completely different witnesses and receiving 67 written submissions.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
