The Quebec government announced last week its intention to ensure the promotion of French and the visibility of Quebec works on online platforms such as YouTube or Spotify. The protection of French requires the active involvement of Quebec. But in an open and global network like the Internet, government actions must be coordinated.
It is not enough to produce works that resemble us, they must be visible. In online streaming platforms, virtually any content is theoretically available. The challenge for the public lies in the ability to find musical and audiovisual works from minority cultures. Online platforms, such as YouTube, Netflix or social networks, operate with algorithms programmed according to secret criteria. It is often difficult to find the works of our creators quickly and effectively. For example, we have often noticed that the proposals we obtain on platforms like Spotify or YouTube leave little room for local creations.
Quebec levers
Quebec’s action must reinforce the measures put in place at the federal level, and even those applied in other areas, such as the European Union.
For several years, Quebec has adopted a set of tax measures and public aid to promote the production and distribution of Quebec works. These measures complement those that have been put in place by the federal authorities. With regard to digital platforms, Quebec was a pioneer by adopting, in 2001, a law on the legal framework for information technologies which regulates, among other things, online transactions and the liability of intermediary platforms like Google or Facebook. The Quebec Consumer Protection Act regulates advertising and sets the conditions for consumer transactions. These are examples of levers that could be used by Quebec to strengthen French-speaking visibility in online spaces. At the federal level, the Online Broadcasting Act which recently came into force empowers the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to implement requirements to ensure the presence and visibility of Canadian works on broadcast platforms. . For three quarters of a century, legislation on radio and television media has been designed to ensure the Canadian presence on the airwaves and reinvestment in national productions. Without these measures, the Canadian broadcast space would only be a display of American programs, sometimes translated into French.
Federal legislation requires that programming available in Canada, including on major online platforms, reflect the creativity of Francophones as well as that of First Nations and minorities. These days, the CRTC has also undertaken to require companies with annual gross Canadian revenues from broadcasting activities of more than $10 million to register with it. This will allow the CRTC to have a minimum of information on these online platforms.
To understand how these companies operate, regulators need information on a broad range of their activities. To date, the CRTC requires online businesses to provide basic information to identify the business and the types of broadcasting services it offers. Citing a concern to reduce the administrative burden on operators, the CRTC only asks for general information, such as the predominant language(s) of the content and whether the service offers programming in French, English or indigenous languages. But even such minimal collection of information raises the ire of commentators in English Canada who see it as censorship!
In fact, we observe, in certain circles, a marked hostility to measures aimed at imposing conditions on online companies in order to offer and promote Canadian content. For example, the leader of the Conservative Party even went so far as to claim that such measures are “web censorship.”
We must increase pressure on the CRTC so that it equips itself with efficient tools to observe what is happening and intervene proactively. It is under these conditions that we can ensure real diversity in online platforms. The Quebec government will not have all its weight to demand that the CRTC take seriously the law it is tasked to implement and resist calls to dismantle measures to promote content from minority cultures.
Professor, Pierre Trudel teaches media and information technology law at the University of Montreal.