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In June of 2021, Canada’s Parliament passed Bill C-10: An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts (Bill C-10). Bill C-10 was drafted in response to recommendations made by the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel suggesting reforms of Canada’s broadcasting system to account for digital media. Although Bill C-10 received its third reading, the Senate did not provide approval before Parliament’s dissolution following the 2021 snap election.

In February of this year, the Federal Government revived the contents of Bill C-10, by introducing Bill C-11: the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11, or the Act).

In December 2021, our post Increased Likelihood of US Social Media Regulation discussed the rising momentum to reform Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which is often used to protect social media giants from liability for content posted on their platforms by third parties. Recently, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas expressed displeasure over the lack of guidance surrounding Section 230’s scope and hinted that reform may be close.

In December 2021, our post “Increased likelihood of US social media regulation” discussed Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and her call to hold social media platforms accountable for the potentially dangerous content that appears on their sites.

In February 2022, Haugen once again flagged Facebook’s algorithms as potentially harmful, but this time Haugen was speaking outside of the United States, to the Australian Parliament’s Select Committee on Social Media and Online Safety (the “Committee”).

In late June of 2021, Members of Canada’s Parliament passed Bill C-10: An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts. The Bill proposes to subject social media platforms and streaming services, collectively described in the Bill as ‘online undertakings’, to requirements similar to those imposed on traditional television and radio broadcasting companies in Canada. For example, this proposal could include requiring these companies to contribute financially to the production of Canadian cultural industries. The proposed changes aim to harness the explosive popularity of social media and streaming sites to support Canadian content online.

Last week, the UK Home Secretary unveiled tough new plans to regulate social media platforms in the White Paper ‘Online Harms’ (the Paper). The Paper sets out a regulatory framework to tackle illegal and harmful online activity, in a flagship move which will require careful attention from social media platforms operating in the UK.

A recent UN study reveals that rapid growth of social networks and e-commerce platforms has driven financial inclusion, economic activity and security in practically all countries and in particular China. The report highlights that popular applications WeChat and AliPay have developed into some of the largest and most sophisticated financial ecosystems in the world. For example, AliPay was first launched in 2004 and by 2016 AliPay was processing 175 million transactions per day, and more than half through a mobile phone.