Cory Morgan: Canada’s Push to Control Movement of Information on the Internet a Dangerous Path to Travel Down

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers a speech at the B20 Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, on Nov. 14, 2022. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Commentary

We are living in an age where common citizens have access to information and the ability to communicate like never before. Individuals are empowered in ways that would have been unimaginable only a few decades ago. A person can research a subject, make their conclusions, and share those ideas with thousands or even millions of people through social media from the comfort of their home with nothing more than a laptop computer.

This sort of power in the hands of citizens makes authoritarians uncomfortable. Governments have been trying to control the internet since its inception. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has signalled he wants to lead the charge as he announced plans for Canada to host representatives from the G7 nations to develop tools to control the movement of information on the internet. This is a very dangerous path to travel down.

Trudeau is claiming he only wants to regulate and control the spread of disinformation, but determining what is or isn’t disinformation can be a very subjective thing. In dictatorships, posting critiques of the government would be considered disinformation. In theocratic states, posting anything critical of the state religion would be considered disinformation. Do we really want to entrust our government with the power to determine the veracity of information?

There are downsides to the barrage of information the internet exposes us to. There is a mountain of disinformation out there and it can be cleverly disguised as fact. Bots have influenced elections, and rumours spread on the internet have fed disorder. Is it the responsibility of the state or the individual to sift through the information to ensure it is accurate?

While it may feel overwhelming at times, individuals must take on the personal responsibility of verifying that the information they have obtained online is accurate.

The government has long wanted to have control over the internet. The CRTC announced with great fanfare in 1999 that after long consideration, they had chosen not to regulate the internet at that time. It wasn’t that the broadcast regulator didn’t want to regulate the internet. They just couldn’t figure out how.

Trying to control the internet is something like a game of whack-a-mole. For every information source the government can block, three more spring up. Often on foreign soil. Even China and North Korea have a tough time trying to keep information from reaching their citizens, and it’s not for lack of effort. This could be why Trudeau is seeking allies outside of Canada to try and find a way to control online information. The more countries that sign on, the better the chance information can be controlled.

The Trudeau government has been almost obsessive with its efforts to get a handle on online communications. Bills C-18 and C-11 have both come under heavy criticism from civil liberties groups and activists, as they present a threat to free press and speech. Nonetheless, both bills are making their way through Parliament and will likely be enshrined into law soon. Those bills may not be able to hinder access to information or communications for determined people willing to use out-of-country services. That’s presumably why Trudeau is trying to build a coalition of countries to take control of online content.

Trudeau also told business leaders attending a B20 summit in Bali that the government intends to stiffen regulations related to online hate and that they plan to develop artificial intelligence technology to do so. While online hate is a concern, do we really need more legislation to deal with it?

Most of the hazards presented by the internet and social media already have laws applied to them. Posting and sharing images of child pornography is illegal. Spreading hate or trying to incite violence could lead to criminal charges as well. Defamation of individuals or companies can lead to legal consequences. Citizens would be better served if the government dedicated time and energy to preventing and prosecuting those crimes online rather than trying to find ways to prevent what they deem to be misinformation.

We are at an information turning point in modern history. Social media giants have formed and a small number of them dominate online discourse. Those platforms are still evolving and right now are in turmoil as both Facebook’s Meta and Twitter are laying off thousands as they restructure. Will further government meddling and regulation of these platforms make things better?

Free speech, press, and expression are essential rights. The internet has become the world’s medium for practising those rights. We can’t stand by and let the government incrementally infringe on those freedoms. Information and the ability to share it is too important to give the government control of it. Without free speech and communication, we can’t protect the rest of our rights.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.