Ottawa is proposing new policy changes – with financial penalties – to ensure that online streaming platforms that are seeing booming revenue are faced with as strict rules as traditional broadcasters.
Regulations put in place by the liberal government today in a new bill focus on making it clear that online broadcasting platforms such as Netflix and Spotify will fall under the Broadcasting Act through a new category called Online Pledges.
The bill also proposes to give the CRTC new powers to require broadcasters and Internet broadcasters to make financial contributions to support Canadian music, stories, creators, and producers.
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A government briefing note indicates that if the CRTC applies the same requirements about Canadian content to traditional broadcasters and live broadcasters, online platforms could contribute up to $ 830 million in Canadian content by 2023. The briefing note says the bill has expanded. It leads the government to require the CRTC to consider which Internet broadcasters should regulate and determine whether it is a good idea to give additional regulatory credits to broadcasters who produce work on indigenous peoples, ethnic communities, or in the French language.
The briefing note says that CRTC may also be required to consider what qualifies as Canadian content and whether that definition takes into account credits or intellectual property.
