ISOC decries Canadian News Act, says 'It'll restrict innovation & growth in digital space' - ITREALMS

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The Internet Society (ISOC) has decried the Canadian News Act, describing it as instrument to stifle freedom of expression, restrict innovation and growth of digital economy, reports ITREALMS.

ISOC in an Internet Impact Brief co-authored by its Canadian chapter and made available to 

ITREALMS by the Director, Government Affairs and Advocacy, Callum Voge, the brief arose from a technical perspective, using their Internet Impact Assessment Toolkit to identify how the Act may positively or negatively impact the Internet.
"Specifically, we wanted to understand if the Internet would become more or less open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy after the introduction of the Act," he said.

ISOC findings, ITREALMS gathered was that the Online News Act will indeed hurt the Internet, and the people and businesses who rely on it.

According to ISOC, this harmful Act seeks to restrict innovation and growth of the digital economy by forcing users and businesses in Canada into a permission-based model that controls use of the Internet’s common language and address system, which runs counter to its fundamental design.

Also, ISOC noted with dismay that the Act reinforces the market power of big players by creating barriers to entry and growth for Canadian businesses.

"The Act’s requirements make it unaffordable for start-ups and small businesses to use Internet technologies to become a challenger in the market, lest they find themselves subject to fines and forced into compensation bargaining with news companies," Voge said.

Equally, ISOC pointed out that the Act would prevent people from access to private and secure lines of communication online.

"Market-power digital news intermediaries will be prevented from using strong encryption in order to put in place the content monitoring mechanisms needed to comply with the Act," Vogue also said.

In addition, he said that ISOC is concerned the Act would stifle freedom of expression by restricting people in Canada from easily accessing and sharing information online.

"The limitations placed on strong encryption in the Act should be concerning to all Canadians, but especially to journalists that rely on encryption to do their job effectively and securely," Vogue lamented.

Remmy Nweke/DoP