September 19, 2023
Today, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) informed Egale Canada that it intends to hold a public consultation on its regulatory approach in overseeing non-Canadian television services, which is to begin in the coming months. We ask the CRTC to proceed with urgency, as the lack of an effective framework to address violations of Canadian broadcasting law by non-Canadian programming services means that these violations can continue indefinitely.
The background for this decision is Egale’s application to the CRTC to open a public consultation into the removal of the American Fox News Channel from Canadian television. Over 7000 individuals and organizations participated in the consultation, which ran from May 4 to June 3, 2023. Many of those interventions pointed to the constitutional and human rights issues raised by the decision before the CRTC.
In the open letter in which we first asked the CRTC to begin the process of removing Fox News from Canadian broadcasting, we said that the CRTC has a responsibility to hold Fox News accountable to the same standards that Canadian broadcasters have to follow. Abusive comments and misinformation, which are regularly featured on Fox News, are a violation of Canadian broadcasting law. The CRTC’s decision to review its regulatory approach to non-Canadian services is timely and necessary. Egale intends to participate in the CRTC’s public consultation on its approach to regulating non-Canadian programming. We sincerely hope to see the CRTC develop a framework that will fairly and effectively address violations of Canadian broadcasting law by non-Canadian broadcasters, including the misinformation and hatred still being broadcast on Fox News.
Learn more about Egale Canada’s efforts for the Removal of Fox News from Canadian Distribution