Danielle Smith expresses concern for independent media amid Trudeau’s censorship efforts
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Smith has previously suggested creating a provincial internet firewall to bypass federal internet censorship laws.
(LifeSiteNews) — Alberta premier Danielle Smith has said she is very “concerned” about new federal legislation that, if passed, would regulate how online news media is shared on social media.
While speaking during a recent radio interview, Smith said that she had been talking with “members of the media,” in particular “the alternative media, who are very concerned about some of the laws that are coming down at the federal level.”
Smith noted that the independent media “think” and fear the looming internet legislation from the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “might run them out of business.”
“Because they’re interfering with their ability to freely put messages out there,” explained Smith.
While not mentioning which bills in particular to which she was referring, the Trudeau government last Wednesday decided to fast-track Bill C-18, titled the “Online News Act,” rushing it through the House of Commons and its first of three reading in the Senate.
The bill had the full support of all parties except the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), whose MPs blasted the fast passage of the bill and voiced their concerns that the legislation would effectively force social media companies to pay Canadian legacy media for news content shared on their platforms, to the detriment of independent outlets.
“Simply put, this law would force Facebook, Google and other internet companies to prioritize CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and other government-approved news outlets on our feed over the smaller alternative news media platforms that may be more critical of the NDP-Liberal view of the world,” CPC MP Brad Redekopp said during the debate about the bill last week.
According to the bill’s text, news outlet that the are given the label of a “qualified Canadian journalism organization” could be given favorable rankings on Big Tech platforms, and would even be entitled to “fair compensation” whenever their news content is shared on such sites.