For years, Ottawa was content to stand by while foreign-owned digital giants — Google, Facebook, Twitter and the like — reshaped much of how we live and work. Even when other countries started to push back against Big Tech and its power over the economy, social life and even democracy, Canada pretty much stayed on the… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Politics
Facebook’s Trump ban upheld by Oversight Board but Facebook has to review the decision and “justify a proportionate response”
Donald Trump’s ban from Facebook and Instagram has been upheld by Facebook’s Oversight Board. But it criticised the permanent nature of the ban as beyond the scope of Facebook’s normal penalties. It has ordered Facebook to review the decision and “justify a proportionate response” that is applied to everyone, including ordinary users. The former president… Read more »
Fisheries scientist calling on high-tech anglers to reel it in
Technology might be trumping old-school fishing tackle, but an Ottawa biology professor is calling for limits on the increasingly fancy lures and high-tech gear. Some sport fishermen with deep pockets are using drones to drop baited lines, electric lures that flash lights or emit scent, and fish finders so advanced that they create 3D images of the prey, turning… Read more »
Biden urged to back AI weapons to counter China and Russia threats
The US and its allies should reject calls for a global ban on AI-powered autonomous weapons systems, according to an official report commissioned for the American President and Congress. It says that artificial intelligence will “compress decision time frames” and require military responses humans cannot make quickly enough alone. And it warns Russia and China would be… Read more »
The only way to control tech giants like Facebook may be for governments to gang up
It used to be that the most influential media companies in Canada had to keep at least one eye on the Canadian public interest whether they wanted to or not. Broadcasters are regulated through the Broadcasting Act, and while newspapers face less oversight, a restriction on foreign ownership means there is always the potential that… Read more »
How will ‘chipageddon’ affect you?
For the most part they go unseen but computer chips are at the heart of all the digital products that surround us – and when supplies run short, it can halt manufacturing. There was a hint of the problem last year when gamers struggled to buy new graphics cards, Apple had to stagger the release of its… Read more »
Digital privacy law is being updated for the first time in decades, and it’s imperative we get it right
Canadian legislators in the House of Commons recently introduced Bill C-11 to enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act. Bill C-11 embodies the principles of Canada’s Digital Charter, which envisions the internet as a tool for both innovation and the public good. Over the past year, Canadians — just like much of the world — have increasingly lived… Read more »
Ottawa to impose ‘fair share’ of tax on digital giants including Netflix, Amazon and Airbnb
That Netflix tax is coming after all. The federal government is taking aim at digital giants including Netflix, Amazon and Airbnb, insisting they pay HST or GST on sales to Canadian consumers, a move that experts warn could raise prices. Everything from app-store purchases to streaming subscriptions to items purchased on Amazon could be hit under the… Read more »
Canadian professor’s website helps Russia spread disinformation, says U.S. State Department
As U.S. authorities guard against dirty tricks from foreign adversaries in the run-up to the Nov. 3 presidential election, an unlikely source has come under new scrutiny as a major conduit of Russian-linked disinformation: a Montreal-based website run by a retired University of Ottawa professor. The platform, Global Research, features a Canadian domain name and offers an ever-expanding… Read more »
Iowa caucus: Chaos at key vote as results delayed
Results from voting in Iowa, the first round in the contest to pick a Democratic candidate to face President Donald Trump, have been plunged into chaos by apparent technology issues. The state’s Democratic party said the holdup was a “reporting issue”, adding that it expected to “have numbers to report later today [Tuesday]”. Source: BBC… Read more »
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