Canadian regulator launches public consultation on banning Fox News from cable packages

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Canadian regulators have launched a public consultation on calls to ban Fox News from cable packages after receiving complaints saying the network has aired hateful content about LGBTQ2S+ people.

The public consultation, which began earlier this month, was triggered by an open letter from advocacy group Egale Canada.

"People in Canada deserve to know that the news broadcast on Canadian airwaves is reliable and objective, and marginalized groups must be protected from malicious propaganda," the group's executive director Helen Kennedy wrote.

Kennedy specifically accused now-former prime-time host Tucker Carlson of provoking "hatred and violence" against trans people by making "false and horrifying claims" in a segment that also included Egale's name and logo.

"The trans movement is targeting Christians, including with violence," Carlson said in a March segment following a mass shooting at a Nashville school.

"Egale has experienced firsthand the hate that is generated from a single segment aired on Fox News in Canada," Kennedy wrote. "This programming is in clear violation of Canadian broadcasting standards and has no place on Canadian broadcasting networks."

Carlson’s prime-time show on Fox News had been most-watched cable news show in the U.S. However, in late April, Fox News outsted Carlson, days after the network agreed to a nearly US$800 million settlement to avoid facing trial over claims that it promoted falsehoods about voting machines following the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

In the letter, Kennedy urges the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC, to hold public consultations on banning Fox News from Canadian cable packages for its "abusive" content. The CRTC regulates television, radio and other telecommunications in the country.

"We are calling on the CRTC to begin public consultations on the removal of Fox News from the List of non-Canadian programming authorized for distribution in Canada," Kennedy said.

Since public consultations opened on May 3, over 160 Canadians have submitted, with some comments defending Fox News and others supporting Kennedy’s call to ban the outlet.

"Why would we want a broadcaster spreading falsehoods and damaging our democracy in the way that it has done to the U.S.," someone in Ontario wrote.

"Eliminating sources of information containing alternative thoughts to whatever your personal agenda may be is un-democratic and against free speech," another opined.

"As a person who identifies as LGBTQ2SI, I firmly believe Canadians are able to decide for themselves which cable channels they want or don’t want, and Canadians are able to discern opinion from reality without options being removed on their behalf," a person in New Brunswick stated.

The CRTC will be accepting public input until June 2.

Fox News and the CRTC did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.