1) Social-Media Creators, Podcasts Won’t Be Regulated Under Liberal Online Streaming Law

Courtesy of Barrie360.com, and Canadian PressPublished: Nov 14th, 2023

By Mickey Djuric in Ottawa

The Liberal government has released its final policy direction for the Online Streaming Act, requiring digital giants to contribute to Canadian content while leaving individual content creators alone.

The controversial legislation aims to modernize Canada’s broadcasting regime. Canadian content has benefited from billions of dollars contributed by those broadcasting on TV, radio, cable and satellite, but Canadians are increasingly consuming content online.

On Tuesday, the Department of Canadian Heritage issued its final direction to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on the legislation in order to scope in streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and Apple because they also broadcast commercial content.

This marks the end of the government’s direct role with the law formerly known as Bill C-11, the Liberal government’s second attempt to bring major online-streaming services into Canada’s broadcasting system and eventually have them contribute to supporting local music and stories.

“The sector needs to adapt to where the Canadian public is today. And we know Canadians look for their news and content online,” Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said Tuesday in Montreal.

“This is a really important step to modernize this sector and to make sure that our Canadian voices are strong and alive in the online world.”

The final policy direction, which is binding, will apply to broadcast services, not content creators. That means those producing content on social media, podcasts and video games will not be regulated under the law, the policy direction shows.

The CRTC has also said it will not regulate content creators, whether they upload makeup tutorials, review restaurants, dance to music trends, promote their local business, or criticize the government.

The Department of Canadian Heritage said the act targets the kind of professional, licensed commercial content that is found in traditional broadcasting, such as TV and radio.

The possibility that content creators would fall within the scope of the Online Streaming Act had sparked a strong reaction, including from the Opposition Conservatives, who had argued it would amount to censorship — a claim St-Onge denies.

The New Democrats and Bloc Québécois had supported the bill.

While the implementation of the law is years away, it will require online broadcasters to contribute to the creation, production and distribution of Canadian content without changing their algorithms.

It also seeks to support Indigenous content and original French-language programming.

On Tuesday, the Conservatives promised to repeal the act should they form government, arguing that imposing Canadian content rules on online-streaming services still amounts to overreach.

“Instead of removing barriers and giving creators and consumers freedom, the Liberal government is telling homegrown talent they will not succeed unless they meet the approval of government bureaucrats in Ottawa,” Conservative MP Rachael Thomas, the heritage critic for her party, said in a written statement.

The CRTC is now tasked with creating the regulations, which will include major public consultations over defining, or redefining, Canadian content. This will include speaking with Indigenous, ethnocultural groups and official language minority communities.

Once a definition is in place, the CRTC has said it will start looking at streaming companies to see whether the new broadcasting rules will apply to them or not. But that is still years away.

Since the law follows years of consultations, St-Onge said, the final policy direction is similar to the draft version from earlier this year.

2) YouTube Creators Will Soon Have To Disclose Use Of Gen AI In Videos Or Risk Suspension;

Courtesy of Barrie360.com and Canadian Press Published: Nov 14th, 2023

The Associated Press

YouTube is rolling out new rules for AI content, including a requirement that creators reveal whether they’ve used generative artificial intelligence to make realistic looking videos.

In a blog post Tuesday outlining a number of AI-related policy updates, YouTube said creators that don’t disclose whether they’ve used AI tools to make “altered or synthetic” videos face penalties including having their content removed or suspension from the platform’s revenue sharing program.

“Generative AI has the potential to unlock creativity on YouTube and transform the experience for viewers and creators on our platform,” Jennifer Flannery O’Connor and Emily Moxley, vice presidents for product management, wrote in the blog post. “But just as important, these opportunities must be balanced with our responsibility to protect the YouTube community.”

The restrictions expand on rules that YouTube’s parent company, Google, unveiled in September requiring that political ads on YouTube and other Google platforms using artificial intelligence come with a prominent warning label.

Under the latest changes, which will take effect by next year, YouTubers will get new options to indicate whether they’re posting AI-generated video that, for example, realistically depict an event that never happened or show someone saying or doing something they didn’t actually do.

“This is especially important in cases where the content discusses sensitive topics, such as elections, ongoing conflicts and public health crises, or public officials,” O’Connor and Moxley said.

Viewers will be alerted to altered videos with labels, including prominent ones on the YouTube video player for sensitive topics.

The platform is also deploying AI to root out content that breaks its rules, and the company said the technology has helped detect “novel forms of abuse” more quickly.

YouTube’s privacy complaint process will be updated to allow requests for the removal of an AI-generated video that simulates an identifiable person, including their face or voice.

YouTube music partners such as record labels or distributors will be able to request the takedown of AI-generated music content “that mimics an artist’s unique singing or rapping voice.”

3) Nepal Bans TIKTOK; Says It Disrupts Social Harmony

‘Use Of The Social Media Platform That Was Disrupting Social Harmony, Goodwill And Flow Of Indecent Materials’

Courtesy Of Barrie360.com and Canadian PressPublished: Nov 14th, 2023

Nepal’s government decided to ban the popular social media app TikTok on Monday, saying it was disrupting “social harmony” in the country.

The announcement was made following a Cabinet meeting. Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud said the app would be banned immediately.

“The government has decided to ban TikTok as it was necessary to regulate the use of the social media platform that was disrupting social harmony, goodwill and flow of indecent materials,” Saud said.

He said that to make social media platforms accountable, the government has asked the companies to register and open a liaison office in Nepal, pay taxes and abide by the country’s laws and regulations.

It wasn’t clear what triggered the ban, or if TikTok had refused to comply with Nepal’s requests. The company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.