Fox News shouldn’t air in Canada despite Tucker Carlson ouster, LGBTQ2S+ group argues

TORONTO –

An advocacy group that desires the CRTC to ban Fox News says the community’s “abusive content” extends past its divisive personalities comparable to just lately fired host Tucker Carlson.

Fox News ought to be banned from Canadian airwaves as a result of it has “repeatedly and regularly” violated broadcasting requirements with content material that topics many teams to hate, Egale Canada is arguing in its formal submission to Canada’s broadcasting regulator.

The LGBTQ2S+ rights group is dismissing Fox’s argument that the applying to take away its news community from Canadian cable TV packages is “moot” within the wake of prime-time host Tucker Carlson’s ousting in late April.

Egale’s reply submission to the CRTC this week follows 1000’s of feedback, together with these from Fox News, that the fee obtained after in search of public enter on the matter.

Egale wrote an open letter to the regulator in early April, asking it to seek the advice of the general public on the elimination of Fox News from the checklist of non-Canadian programming licensed for distribution in Canada.

The letter cited a March 28 episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” that made “horrifying claims” about transgender and non-binary folks, “painting them as violent and dangerous.” The group stated it “has skilled firsthand the hate that’s generated from a single phase aired on Fox News in Canada.

“We cannot begin to imagine the broader impacts and potential rise in hate that might result from allowing more content like this to air in Canada,” the letter added.

The CRTC opened what’s referred to as a Part 1 software in early May in search of public feedback, with a June 2 deadline for written submissions. More than 7,000 submissions had been revealed on the CRTC’s web site; a lot of them supported a ban on Fox News whereas others stated the transfer could be unreasonable and a violation of press freedoms and freedom of expression.

Fox News urged the CRTC to reject the request for its elimination and stated Egale’s software “hinges on a claim that is now moot,” provided that Tucker Carlson is now not with the community. In any case, delisting Fox News “would be grossly disproportionate and unprecedented” and opposite to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the community’s authorized counsel argued in a submission to the CRTC.

Fox has not disclosed the explanation for Carlson’s ouster, but it surely occurred lower than every week after the community agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems practically US$800 million to settle the voting machine firm’s lawsuit over false claims aired concerning the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The New York Times has reported that materials uncovered as a part of the lawsuit proceedings included “highly offensive” remarks Carlson made in personal messages.

Egale Executive Director Helen Kennedy stated in an interview final week that though the group’s open letter referenced a specific phase of Carlson’s present, the issue with Fox News is far broader.

“We know from the research that we’ve done on Fox around some of the other issues that anti-LGBTI sentiment runs deep within that organization and so it’s a cultural issue within the organization and it’s certainly goes beyond one particular host,” she stated.

Kennedy pointed to varied submissions to the CRTC from different advocacy teams that provided examples of how Fox News content material impacts marginalized teams in Canada.

PFlag wrote that “queerphobic hate has been empowered by media including Fox News spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation.” The Canadian Women’s Foundation stated that Fox News broadcasts “content that is abusive, discriminatory, hateful, and exposes women and gender-diverse people, particularly those from Black and racialized communities, 2SLGBTQ2S+IA+ people, newcomers, and migrants to hatred and contempt.” The Canadian Anti-Hate Network additionally supported Egale in its letter to the CRTC.

Fox News didn’t reply to a request for touch upon such submissions by publication time.

The CRTC can delist a global TV channel beforehand licensed for distribution in Canada if it believes the content material would violate rules that apply to licensed Canadian broadcasters.

That occurred final 12 months within the case of Russia’s state-run broadcaster, RT, which was banned from distribution in Canada following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The CRTC stated that RT’s content material is “likely to expose the Ukrainian people to hatred or contempt on the basis of their race, national or ethnic origin.”

In its submission to the CRTC, Fox News argued that the regulator’s resolution within the case of RT “is distinct and has no bearing here.” Egale disputed that in its response, saying the CRTC requires “clear evidence that the broadcast of Fox News violates Canadian regulations,” similar to it did with RT.

Fox News additionally stated its elimination would “give rise to procedural fairness concerns” as a result of the community hasn’t obtained any warnings from the CRTC about its content material. Fox cited the case of a Quebec radio station that received “numerous warnings” from the fee as a consequence of complaints about its programming greater than 20 years in the past.

Some submissions to the CRTC argued that banning Fox News could be an act of censorship and deny Canadians entry to differing viewpoints.

“I oppose limits on free speech and limits on journalistic freedoms. This isn’t Russia or China,” one particular person wrote.

A response written on behalf of the Canadian Citizens for Charter Rights and Freedoms group stated the transfer “seeks to quash viewpoints that, although controversial to some, deserve to be aired in the public interest and in the spirit of free and unencumbered debate ΓǪ Those who are offended by the news and issues of the day can chose to unsubscribe from the services that provide them.”

But free speech “doesn’t mean that it’s open season on marginalized groups,” Kennedy stated.

“Freedom of speech, freedom of expression is not absolute,” she stated. “You can’t just say whatever you want regardless of whether someone can unsubscribe or not. And also, Fox comes with other (cable) packages so it’s not like you have a choice to just remove Fox from your selection process.”

She stated the broader query ought to be: “Is this the type of rhetoric that we wish to have on our airwaves when Canadian broadcasters have been subjected to a better customary?

“And I would say no, it’s not.”

Kennedy stated the push to ban Fox News is one technique to deal with rising hate in the direction of LGBTQ2S+ teams, evidenced by violent rhetoric towards trans rights, Pride flag elevating and different inclusion initiatives on each side of the border.

“I certainly feel that the community, we’re being hunted right now,” she stated. “And it’s really starting to feel unsafe in ways that we haven’t seen in a very, very long time. And it shouldn’t be allowed to happen, and certainly shouldn’t be allowed to continue. And we’ll do everything we can to address this and hold people accountable for us.”

The CRTC stated in an e-mail to The Canadian Press that it’s going to “analyze the public record and issue its decision in due course.” On its web site, the fee says its “service objective” for Part 1 functions is to difficulty a call inside 4 months of the final day to file all submissions on the matter.

From April 2021 to March 2022, 66 per cent of such selections had been issued inside 4 months, the CRTC web site says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed June 13, 2023.