Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) chair Ian Scott has debunked allegations that Bill C-11 would give the Commission too much power over platform algorithms or what Canadians will watch.

Scott made his second appearance in front of the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications on Wednesday (Nov. 16) alongside Scott Shortliffe, executive director, broadcasting, and Rachelle Frenette, general counsel and deputy executive director at the CRTC.

The chair first appeared during the committee’s pre-study of the bill in June, where he said the C-11 – also referred to as the Online Streaming Act – was a “long overdue” piece of legislation. If passed, the bill will modernize the current Broadcasting Act, bringing digital platforms into the Canadian system and giving the CRTC additional regulatory powers.

During his testimony, Scott said his previous remarks on regulating streaming services “have been taken out of context,” specifically on the topic of algorithms.

“To be clear, the CRTC’s objective is to ensure that Canadians are made aware of Canadian content and that they can find it. It is not about manipulating algorithms, it is about encouraging innovation,” he said.

He added that platforms such as Netflix and YouTube are already doing work to support Canadians, either by providing resources to local creators or highlighting Canadian content on their services. “A number of platforms already use their algorithm in that manner,” he said. “The Commission won’t make them.”

Shortliffe said there will be a “public dialogue” with platforms on how to best determine their contribution to the Canadian system, if the bill is passed. Both Scott and Shortliffe said the CRTC recognizes that streaming platforms have a different business model than traditional broadcasters in Canada, and will create an “equitable” framework accordingly.

Jeanette Patell, head of Canada government affairs and public policy at YouTube, shared the platform’s concerns about algorithm manipulation with the committee in September. “[Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez] has said that the content of online creators should not be subject to the Act, and the algorithms are not in play,” she said. “However, it’s clear that the regulator, who will interpret and apply this Act, sees considerably more authority granted in the legal text than the minister intends.”

Jesse Wente, the outgoing co-executive director of the Indigenous Screen Office, also warned against looking too closely at algorithms during his witness testimony on Tuesday (Nov. 15). He said the bill should be focused on “ensuring there are resources coming back into the country, as opposed to worrying too much about algorithmic changes, because those are going to shift depending on the platform.”

Wente pointed to the current downturn in the tech industry, where Twitter and Meta have already seen mass layoffs, as proof that a modernized Broadcasting Act can’t be overly tied to present-day technology. “Don’t attach us to business models that won’t prove to be viable in the long term,” he said.

A great amount of debate during the committee meeting centred on how the CRTC’s interpretation of the modernized Broadcasting Act may change in the future, and whether the legislation should be clarified to prevent potential regulation of algorithms and user-generated content down the line.

Senator Paula Simons criticized the CRTC’s previous comparisons between regulating social media content and regulating “cat videos” during her line of questioning. “There are people who are doing professional, cutting-edge, artistic work who are seriously concerned… that they will be captured by [section 4.2].”

“There’s a difference between applying jurisdiction and having an authority,” Scott responded. “We could regulate [social media users] today under the [current] Broadcasting Act. We do not. And the reason we do not is that it makes no sense to do so.”

Scott also pointed to several revision requests in Bill C-11 during his opening remarks, including subsection 5.2(2), which sets “far-reaching and rigid consultation requirements,” according to the CRTC, as well as section 34.01, which calls for a review of decisions on conditions of licence and expenditure requirements every seven years.

Minister Rodriguez and several members of the Department of Canadian Heritage will appear in front of the committee on Nov. 22, and the clause-by-clause review of the bill will commence on Nov. 23.