Defeat the web giants

The development of digital technology as a communication tool imposes a profound transformation on the entire cultural industry to such an extent that it threatens diversity throughout the world. Digital technology is American culture drinking in the magic potion. She now seems invincible to us.

The report entitled The cultural sovereignty of Quebec in the digital agepublished Wednesday, offers responses, sometimes daring, to the American threat.

The report first reaffirms what has long been denied by the web giants: government powers in the real world also apply in the virtual world. To give the government control over what is happening there, experts propose discoverability^⁠1in a way, a right of access to one’s own culture.

The committee therefore proposes to include, in the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a “right to the discoverability of French-speaking cultural content”. The State as well as private companies which unreasonably restrict access to cultural content of original French expression would be subject to it. They would have an obligation to achieve results (to make productions in French discoverable), but the means to achieve this would not be defined, which allows future technological developments to be taken into account. Bold. This is a real defense of the diversity of the world.

Another innovation: the experts propose requiring the discoverability of original French-language works, rather than only that of works produced locally, as the federal government intends to do.

Indeed, with the adoption of Bill C-11 on a Digital Charter, the federal government has instead chosen to protect what is produced locally, by local people, regardless of the content and language. It’s a method which has its interest, but which leads to absurdities like Netflix’s classification of Hell on Wheels as a “Canadian TV series” even though it is an American western, played by American actors, about the American railway epic… filmed in Alberta and one of the production houses was from Toronto. Difficult to do more “postnational”.

The idea of ​​favoring French-speaking cultural content rather than only local products is excellent for Quebec, but also for Francophones outside Quebec and for the Francophonie. It is a hand extended towards the world.

How, technically, can we promote the discoverability of original French-language works? The report proposes several means, including imposing quotas on platforms. Europe is already doing this in the field of audiovisual media, by establishing a minimum threshold of 30% European works in the platforms’ catalog. Some countries go further: France imposes a threshold of 60% for European works and 40% for original works in French. Spain even goes so far as to require percentages of presence for regional languages ​​(Catalonia, Galicia, Basque Country).

Quebec has long been active internationally to promote the diversity of cultural expressions and the cultural sovereignty of nations. One of the great successes of his diplomacy was the adoption of the principle of cultural exception and its inclusion in international agreements, notably free trade agreements. The same type of battle must be waged so that common standards for promoting the diversity of languages ​​are imposed on digital platforms. The diplomatic effort required will be considerable, but as UNESCO’s adoption of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions has demonstrated, nothing is impossible.

In this matter, the Canada-Quebec partnership will be essential. Canada must enter into trade agreements that contain a cultural exemption. If Canada does not do so, Quebec’s efforts will not carry much weight.

The committee is therefore proposing a Canada-Quebec agreement to coordinate the actions of the two governments and to develop the new regulatory framework that will result from the Digital Charter (C-11) adopted by Ottawa. This will be quite a test for the Minister of Heritage in Ottawa, Pascale St-Onge, who is not keen on cooperative federalism.

Canada has always refused to recognize that the government of Quebec is the best judge of the state of its culture, the best at determining what actions should be taken to preserve it and the only representative of the Quebec nation. The actions proposed in this report give the federal government a great opportunity to correct its colonial vision of Quebec.

It is languages ​​and cultures which are the primary sources, the foundations of the diversity of the world. In the digital world as in everyday life, they must be protected. This report shows that it is possible to do it, this report reminds us that digital technology is undefeated, but not invincible.

1. Definition of the OQLF: potential for content, offered online, to be easily discovered by Internet users in cyberspace, particularly by those who were not specifically looking for the content in question.