David T.S. Fraser
@privacylawyer
Followers
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Following
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Media
1,655
Statuses
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Privacy and tech law advisor to global companies. I tweet about legal things. @privacylawyer @twit .social
Canada
Joined January 2009
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Pinned Tweet
Given the current dumpster fire at Twitter and the recent ban on outbound links to other social platforms, I thought I'd do a post of where to find me:
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@GBBranstetter
How can people seriously be afraid of two human beings who so obviously love each other and deserve all the happiness possible?
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Welcome to Nova Scotia, where three people are on the ballot, but the word "John" appears four times.
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A thirteen year old girl was reported missing from Edmonton and, thankfully, has been found. She was apparently abducted and taken to Oregon. There are hundreds of posts on social media referring to her by name. If you posted one of them, please consider deleting it.
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Take a moment to reflect on the fact that the Charter rights that Premier Moe wants to override are the Charter rights of children. Say it out loud: The Charter Rights of Children.
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Supriya Dwivedi, the PM's advisor, is simply incorrect and her manner of engagement with people who actually know what they are talking about is embarrassing.
I didn’t think I’d have to repeat the same thing to a law prof & lawyer as I would a columnist & podcaster but 🤷🏽♀️
one can make the point of needing clearer/better wording without pretending like you can go to jail for life for a minor infraction
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I practice enough freedom of expression law (as we call it in Canada) and aviation law to know that if any rando were to go up and commandeer an aircraft's PA (which is a critical safety system), they'd need a criminal lawyer.
I only do criminal law, so I am not a "free speech" expert. But my quick look at a s. 2b (freedom expression) seems to indicate that "free speech" does not grant the right to make airplane PA announcements? This is dumb.
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I've had a chance to read and reflect on the
@cancivlib
filing regarding the Emergencies Act declaration. I agree that the threshold has not been met, particularly because other laws--if they had been actually enforced--could have done the job.
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Nova Scotians owe a huge thank you to the many journalists who have been working nonstop since April, flipping over rocks and dragging information out of the shadows.
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When someone is reported missing, it's important to help spread the word on social media to help find them. It's a huge relief when they are found. The next good thing that you can do to help is to delete any social postings that include their name.
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The victim-blaming inherent in this tweet explains why nobody I know of as a victim of the crime of non-consensual distribution of intimate images has gotten any meaningful help from the
@rcmpgrcpolice
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Retail stores are private property. Owners can put conditions on entry, if not discriminatory. It's remarkable that the people who seem to freak out the most about having to wear masks are people who otherwise defend the right to refuse services on a discriminatory basis.
#Tison
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The
@RCMPNS
spokesperson on damage to property, threats, assault, vandalism, arson: "We don't see this as a police issue, but we understand both sides."
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While parents have rights with respect to their children, those rights abruptly stop where the child's rights start. And if there's a conflict between the child's rights and the parents' rights, the child's rights prevail.
The municipality is aware of the ‘Million March 4 Children’ event planned for Sept 20 at City Hall. While we recognize that people have a right to protest, we want to make it clear that we fully support our 2SLGBTQIA+ community members. All are welcome here.
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The fact is that if you think that parents' human and Charter rights simply prevail over kids' human and Charter rights, we'll have a lot of dead kids.
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Thank goodness the missing 10 year old has been found. If you helped get the word out on social media, please consider deleting any postings that include his name. Otherwise, those postings will persist and will show up in a search for his name for years to come.
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Dear Nova Scotia friends: When someone is reported missing, it's important to help spread the word on social media to help find them. It's a huge relief when they are found. The next good thing that you can do to help is to delete any social postings that include their name.
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Every single one of these "vigilante" vandals should have their fishing licenses revoked.
@DFO_MAR
@BernJordanMP
And where is the
@RCMPNS
while a conspiracy to damage property is taking place in broad daylight on a public street?
From instagram, here is footage showing settlers in “Nova Scotia” building spike strips to damage Mi’kmaq vehicles. This has to be stopped.
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She is 13 years old and has her life ahead of her. Part of that will probably be dealing with the trauma of her abduction. All the undeleted posts will endure for years and will be surfaced if her name is searched.
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It is incredibly discouraging that online discussion of important matters of public interest involving government spokespeople are more often than not completely misleading. Exhibit 1: This is simply not true and bad faith discussion:
I didn’t think I’d have to repeat the same thing to a law prof & lawyer as I would a columnist & podcaster but 🤷🏽♀️
one can make the point of needing clearer/better wording without pretending like you can go to jail for life for a minor infraction
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Ok, Nova Scotia. We can do this. Don't make
@StephenMcNeil
and
@StrangRobert
call another weekend family meeting.
#JustFlattenIt
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Let me see if I'm getting this right ...
Reporter: Are you trying to appeal to the far-right?
PP: That sounds like a CBC smear job.
Far-right: He he. He mopped the floor with that reporter.
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The
@edmontonpolice
should not be including her name in their recent tweets and press releases. Most police departments in Canada know better.
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I have an access to information joke, but ████ ██ █████ ████ ████████.
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Maybe being charged with criminal negligence causing death and being sued for negligence is also part of god's plan?
The pastor who organized the event that led to a COVID-19 spike and three deaths told his parishioners this week the outcome is "unfortunate" but part of God's plan.
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A reminder: Canadian federal, provincial & municipal public agencies & public officials that block individuals on Twitter are violating section 2(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Which, if you're into "law and order", is the supreme law of Canada. Includes the police.
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@MonicaHesse
@jennifercarolyn
As a personal check on privilege, I've told myself that if I ever say (1), it's time to pack it in. I will have crossed over from the solution side to the problem side.
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It is a great thing to use social media to help people, but another way we can help is to delete those postings when they're no longer missing.
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In between the panic about the fires bearing down on where friends live and have been evacuated, a funny moment in our family group chat .... Thanks
@HRMFireNews
for what you do!
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For the last two years, Nova Scotians backed by their government, have been doing what's necessary to protect the more vulnerable who live in our communities. At the stroke of midnight on Sunday night, they'll be markedly less safe.
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In my first class of the term, MS Teams kindly blurred my cat's face to protect her privacy.
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Among the bad bills and regressive policies being put forward by this gov't, I'm not surprised that Bill S-7 to authorize suspicionless searches of your electronic devices by CBSA at the border isn't getting enough attention. Here's more info:
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@MickeyDjuric
I'm sorry, but your conclusion is wrong. The Bill creates a possible prison term of life for advocating genocide and increases prison terms of public incitement of hatred, wilful promotion of hatred and wilful promotion of antisemitism. (Amendments to Criminal Code s. 318, 319)
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@JusticeCanadaEN
This is a non-answer.
FACT: You can be charged with impaired driving if you are over 0.08 within two hours after driving a vehicle. Even if all the alcohol was consumed AFTER driving.
FACT: You can now be charged with impaired driving if you were NOT IMPAIRED when driving.
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@edmontonpolice
The
@CACP_ACCP
@ABPoliceChiefs
should come up with a clear policy to be adopted by local departments that protects the privacy and dignity of people who are reported missing and are subsequently found.
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Some of the best coverage of the Nova Scotia mass casualty and the resulting inquiry has been from the independent, digital-first Halifax Examiner. Though it's subscriber supported, all of this public interest journalism has been free to all. Support your local journalists.
Mass Casualty Commission calls for overhaul of policing in Canada, including potentially breaking up the RCMP by
@dartjenhen
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In 20+ years of advising international, internet-enabled services, I've never seen such hesitation to launch products or locate services in this country as I have in the past couple of years. I'm afraid that an invisible wall is being built around Canada.
Canadian digital policies have consequences: potential blocked services due to Bill C-11, blocked news links due to Bill C-18, and perhaps blocked AI services also due to Bill C-18. Canada fast becoming a digital outlier.
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@pattonoswalt
Note the "blue lives matter" flag waving overhead during the aggravated assault and possible attempted murder of a police officer.
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This is absolutely repugnant to the expected standard of democratic debate and law-making in this country. All parliamentarians, especially
@s_guilbeault
, who participated in this should be ashamed, as should the CanCon Industrial Complex that stood by silently.
MPs accused of 'secret law making' in rush to pass controversial C-10 broadcasting bill
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Whenever a jurisdiction lifts a legal mask requirement, they need to also make it clear that the owner of any property/store/restaurant/bar has the right to set conditions on entry to the property. Like wearing a mask.
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There is more at stake than moronic buzzwords like "web giants".
@s_guilbeault
's own bureaucrats today admitted that my YouTube videos will be treated as programs and how they are presented will be subject to regulation by the CRTC. Stop with the games.
The CPC is letting down Canadian artists yet again by wasting time in committee. It is simple: C-10 concerns web giants, not your activities on social media.
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It should also be noted that this does not only apply to journalists.
Media law 101: Filming public officials acting in clear public view and reporting on events as a journalist is never a violation of any law.
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There's no doubt that "doom scrolling" is a thing. I suggest following accounts like
@CanadaPaintings
so your timeline is regularly filled with beauty and talent.
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I'm almost finished by fourteen days of self-isolation after having left the bubble. Self-isolation sucks, but I'll do it to protect others. And I think it's a "reasonable limit prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic [and pandemic] society."
Atlantic bubble raises constitutional and economic concerns, but most residents happy with its benefits
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I do not know of any single credible Canadian
#privacy
lawyer or privacy pro who who has found any privacy, surveillance or other issues with the Canadian
#CovidAlert
app. But you don't have to trust us: you can review the code and the privacy documentation yourself.
Why I Installed the COVID Alert App: ”an independent review has found that the privacy risks associated with the app have been addressed and that it is likely to help reduce the spread of the virus. That was reason enough for me to install it.”
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@edmontonpolice
I know that well-intentioned people who wanted to help see her reunited with her family would not want to do anything that would cause her grief or angst in the future.
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Cop pulls over citizens and gives them Tim Horton's gift cards. These sorts of stunts have to stop. They have no idea how anxiety-producing these interactions are for many and even worse after a guy in a uniform and a cop car went on a killing spree here in Nova Scotia.
This is actually super messed up and not a happy fun story at all if you think about it.
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Presumably this employee is not vaccinated. Because of this, residents at Northwood are locked down, unable to leave their floors. They likely no visitors. Long term care home residents have faced hellish restrictions over the pandemic. Vax refusers should not work in healthcare.
A case of COVID-19 has been linked to Northwood, the long-term care home in Halifax that was the epicentre of the virus during the first wave of the pandemic.
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If you're wondering how the Canadian
#COVIDAlert
App works without collecting any personal information (including your location), it's actually super-clever.
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Anti-vaxxers lying about vaccine status (and whining about vaccine passports) are among the principal reasons why we're going to have vaccine passports.
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Today is the 76th anniversary of
#VEDay
. 76 years ago this week, Holland was liberated from the Nazis. On this day in 1945, this amazing photo was taken by Aart Klein of my grandfather Capt W L Roberts, a very proud
@SeaforthOfC
, riding into Dam Square in Amsterdam.
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If your headline starts with "Recently released court documents reveal ..." and then makes an outrageous assertion, you'd better include a link to the court documents.
Recently released court documents reveal that the Trudeau government’s travel vaccine mandate was driven by politics and not science.Days before it kicked in,senior officials were scrambling to find a rationale. My latest for
@bariweiss
and it’s a big one.
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This is so stupid. Meta is no longer carrying links to online news because the
#OnlineNewsAct
gives them two choices: (1) carry news links and shovel cash to the news outlets that benefit from these links or (2) don't carry news links and they'll be out of scope of the law.
Meta is blocking access to news in Canada on Facebook and Instagram because they refuse to pay their fair share for news on their platforms.
The
#OnlineNewsAct
is not blocking news, Meta is.
#CdnPoli
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What the Online News Act and the Online Streaming Act have in common is that they reflect legacy media thinking they are owed something because the internet took our attention (ie monetizable eyeballs) away from newspapers and linear TV. Our attention is earned, now owned.
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Saddened that I have to say this: The Charter still prevails in Nova Scotia as the ultimate law and any provincial law or rule or order that is inconsistent with the Charter is of no force and effect.
1/2 We are hearing rumours again, claiming our officers are stopping all vehicles with 2+ riders to check for recreational travel. While inspecting vehicles can at times be part of our
#COVID
-19 enforcement efforts if necessary, NOT ALL vehicles are being stopped...
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Reckless? Not even close. This is a completely rational decision. "If you share news, you'll have to pay millions!" "Ok, it makes us little revenue and our users actually prefer less news. We'll stop."
Today, Facebook has blocked news for some Canadians. It’s not a coincidence that Facebook chose to do this on the same day that Senators did their clause-by-clause study of Bill C-18. Facebook is trying to intimidate Canadians with these reckless moves. It won’t work. 1/2
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Anybody who thinks that the CRTC should regulate anything having to do with the internet should be forced to find a particular document on the CRTC website and then reflect on that experience.
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I don't think that public confidence in the police in NS has ever been lower. In the last 15 months, I would think that
@HfxRegPolice
would have learned that trust and confidence of the public needs to be earned, and can be quickly lost.
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Reminder: If you help a social media campaign to locate a person who is reported missing, please remember to delete any of your postings that name the person once located. A blizzard of social postings with the name attached can persist for years and years.
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Wow. I just realized it's a year ago today since I last worked at the office, at this desk, with this view, hanging out with my colleagues.
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Canadians have a constitutional right of access to court records. While folks are advocating for changes, one very important change would be to have full costs awarded to public interest litigants fighting for access to these public records that the police don't want you to see.
But, and I'm sorry to bring it back to this, it cost money, and lots of it. The Examiner put our share of the last lawyer bill on the corporate credit card, punting payment down the road a bit (with interest) and that was before the very large bills for July come in.
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Only Nova Scotians will understand this.
7:57pm 6 Engine (Spryfield) paged for an investigation call, smoke in the dingle.
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Come to Centennial Arena for a rapid test and fries. Every rapid test site should have food trucks!
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I don’t think there’ll ever be a time that this does not appear to be a subtweet, but … when an elected official or public-office holder who uses their Twitter account for official or campaign purposes blocks a constituent, it likely violates the Charter.
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Creating a new offence with a possibility of life imprisonment largely for the purpose of tracking statistics seems like an improper purpose to me.
@AndrewLawton
the honest answer is that it explicitly denounces hateful conduct & the standalone hate crime provision will make it much easier for law enforcement to track hate crimes across jurisdictions bc rn when its only considered an aggravating factor at sentencing it’s v inefficient
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In the summer of 2018, a Nova Scotia Human Rights Tribunal determined that public health regulations require that all restaurants, including those with patios, have accessible washrooms. This hasn't been fully implemented. I like puppers, but access and equity is more important.
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There is something very gross about a senior cop appearing in front of one of the committees that's supposed to scrutinize the police and cry about undue scrutiny of police. Point to note: this board's scrutiny is not even sufficient, let alone "undue".
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In order to access the free WiFi at Purdy's Wharf, you have to acknowledge how awesome Purdy's Wharf is.
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The outcome of this will help determine not only whether the Act was properly invoked this week, but when it can be invoked in the future. This is not pro- or anti- Ottawa "protesters", or pro- or anti- gov't. It's pro-rule of law.
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The Canadian exposure notification app is on my phone. I'm comfortable with the due diligence and transparency connected with its development and deployment.
When the criminal and privacy lawyers I follow are all on board with the contact tracing app, I'll go along and download it.
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Bonus fact: The Charter does not give the press additional rights. Every Canadian has a Charter protected right to record public officials in public view and to communicate to the rest of the world what they're doing, ...
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When someone says that freedom of expression is not implicated with Bill C-10, ask them why. And then repeat their explanation back to them but replace "Platform" with "Newspaper"; "Program" with "Opinion piece" & "Creator" with "Columnist".
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Citizens can't be sued for filing access to information requests, court rules
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The police chief complaining about an increase in activism is largely a self-inflicted wound.
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While we are contemplating the summer on patios with doggies, all patios should be accessible with accessible restrooms. And I think Argyle Street should be one big patio, and picknickers should be able to enjoy the beverages of their choice.
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If anyone is interested in seeing the differences between 2020's Bill C-11 and today's Bill C-27 Digital Charter Implementation Act, here's a redline:
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If a child were to confide in a teacher that their parents will beat them if they don't pass their English test, will you then respect the role that parents play within that school system? Would you use the notwithstanding clause to quash the child's right to safety?
Parents want the role they play in their child’s life respected within the school system.
I agree.
And we can do that while still providing a safe and welcoming environment for all students.
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Exhibit 2: Caught being full of it, pivots to denying that their bill does exactly what their bill does because it will not be permitted to do what they have written it to do.
yes, bc once again, bill c63 doesn’t exist in isolation from section 718.1 or common law principles on sentencing that binds judges — I never claimed that this was written into the text of c63 as you (and others) seem to be repeatedly implying
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@TheBikingLawyer
@HamiltonPolice
When my kids were growing up, I always told them I'd pay any such ticket if they didn't feel safe on the road.
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It is problematic when politicians appear to not fully understand their own bills, and when people who know more about the space than they do point it out, they call it misinformation and disinformation. And there's something deeply anti-democratic about that.
When government MPs such as
@TimLouisKitCon
call the majority of expert testimony and analysis on user content regulation in Bill C-11 – corroborated by the CRTC Chair – misinformation, it creates risks to freedom of expression that cannot be ignored.
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This is a little cool. I just found out that this is the twelfth year that I'm listed in Best Lawyers in Canada, now also under their new-ish category of privacy lawyers. I'm also named as "Lawyer of the Year" for Halifax in the category of IT law.
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Exhibit 3: What happened to Amanda Todd was an offence then, and is an offence now. The police finally did their jobs after she died and successfully prosecuted her tormenter using the exact same laws that they could have used before her tragic death.
The Online Harms Act is a testament to the hard work of advocates like Carol Todd
@AToddLegacy
.
Carol suffered an unimaginable tragedy when her daughter Amanda took her own life after being sextorted online.
Carol, thank you. We are working to pass C-63 for you, and for Amanda.
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The replies to this tweet would make a wonderful book of the beauty of Canada.
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I wonder if first generation Canadians and Canadian cultural communities are aware that Bill C-10 will affect their access to content from other countries? It's not just about "web giants". It's also about connections to countries of origin.
Heritage Minister
@s_guilbeault
claims Bill C-10 will generate $830M annually as he “gets money from web giants”.
The reality?
Canadian consumers likely to face new Cancon regulatory charges that could lead to big increase in the cost of digital services
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This is utter BS. The app does not "track your every movement" or any of your movements. This is either willful ignorance or intentional disinformation.
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This is shameful. We've already seen
@s_guilbeault
smearing expert academics and commentators as part of a conservative fringe camp. Now he's positioning this as an English Canada v. French Canada wedge. Time to go, Minister.
C-10 : Steven Guilbeault accuse les conservateurs de mener une « campagne de peur »
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The government really needs to hit the reset button on all of its digital policy, take this out of the hands of
@s_guilbeault
(and whoever is advising him) and give it a full re-think. The worst is yet to come.
Is
@mgeist
satisfied
@s_guilbeault
's promised amendment to the Broadcasting Act will protect freedom of expression for user generated online content?
Watch more at .
#ctvpp
#cdnpoli
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It's amazing to me how many people imagine that the Online News Act makes sense. The whole thing is facially premised on the notion that "big tech" extracts more value from news media than the other way around. And supporters get outraged when shown that's not at all the case.
It’s disappointing to hear that Google is trying to block access to news sites. Canadians won’t be intimidated. At the end of the day, all we’re asking the tech giants to do is compensate journalists when they use their work. (1/2)
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This may be relevant to some folks today: There is no single privacy law in Canada, statutory or common law, that grants privacy rights to organizations.
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And to all the anti-government, pro-occupation and sedition-adjacent people who are re-tweeting this: the "protesters" should have been cleared out of downtown Ottawa weeks ago if the existing laws had actually been enforced.
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This will go down in history as a phenomenal public policy mistake and miscalculation. And the fact that the Minister has crazy-glued (pun intended) 😉his personal brand to it means it'll be the first paragraph in his political obituary.
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I am thinking that a good reopening plan would provide the relevant public health guidance on how to reopen with enough advance notice to actually implement it. And childcare should open first so that all employees actually have the ability to return to work.
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@JesseBrown
Careful with wording. Infringement of a Charter right is very different from the suspension of a Charter right. Rights were indeed infringed, but likely justifiably. But invoking the Act would have been unnecessary if the police of jurisdiction had done their jobs.
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There is no "suspending" this law. It was passed, received royal assent. It comes fully into force no later than Dec. 19. The govt put this train on the tracks, hit the accelerator and removed the brakes. We are watching a disaster of public policy unfold before our eyes.
The opportunism is just relentless. Suspend the Online News Act for the duration, if you’re so concerned about people getting news they can already get just by going to any news organization’s website: the kind Facebook used to point people to until they had to pay a fine for it.
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Hey,
@DigitalNS
friends: Let's give this exceptional student all the reasons to stay in our community. Congrats Maliek Beals! -- Dartmouth High School student scores big scholarship money to study Computer Science at
@DalhousieU
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Nice and festive in the office today ... oh, look! A submarine!
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