Last week, the Canadian Senate passed the controversial Bill C-11, known as the Online Streaming Act (OSA).
This legislation amends the Broadcasting Act and grants the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) new powers to regulate online content.
"The OSA will empower the CRTC to assume jurisdiction via regulation over any 'program' that is 'monetizable' because it 'directly or indirectly generates revenues,'" warned John Carpay, founder and president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, according to Reclaim the Net.
"In the long run, the CRTC could end up regulating much of the content posted on major social media, even where the content is generated or uploaded by religious, political, and charitable nonprofits," added Carpay.
Critics of the bill see it as a means for government expanding its ability to censor online speech.
Conservative Senator Denise Batters expressed her disapproval of the bill on Twitter, saying that "Tonight, Justin Trudeau's Fake 'Independent' Senate passed the awful Bill #C11. Now, it returns to the #HoC."
Initially, it was introduced as Bill C-10 in June 2021 and passed in the House of Commons. But it failed in the Senate.
The proposal made a comeback as Bill C-11 in February 2022 and was cleared by the House in June.
The Senate's approval last week brings the bill one step closer to becoming law, as it now goes back to the House of Commons to consider the amendments.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.