IN PHOTOS Northern lights dance across the night sky in southern Ont.
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
The fallout from a Facebook whistleblower's explosive revelations this month continues to descend on Canada as politicians and experts grapple with how to regulate Big Tech amid renewed questions on the harm it can wreak.
A prolonged "techlash" over the past few years has seen western countries adopt varying degrees of platform regulation, with users becoming increasingly alive to the fractured civic bonds brought on by digital echo chambers. But so far no single approach to regulating and policing the platforms has emerged as a solution.
New Democrats are the latest to demand a federal government crackdown on social media giants. On Monday, NDP MP Charlie Angus called on Ottawa to establish an independent watchdog that tackles disinformation, hateful posts and algorithm transparency, citing a former Facebook executive .
Frances Haugen testified before a U.S. Senate committee on Oct. 5 that the company's products harm children and fuel polarization in the U.S., a claim supported by internal company research leaked to the Wall Street Journal.
"Ms. Haugen reveals that Facebook knew that its algorithms are driving hate content and leading to breakdown in civic engagement," Angus said.
"Facebook made the decision to incentivize profits through its use of its algorithms over the well-being of its users."
As the company confronts intense public scrutiny over how its coding fans inflammatory rhetoric and affects users' self-esteem, Angus is proposing to create an independent ombudsman accountable to the House of Commons, akin to Canada's ethics and privacy commissioners.
"Rather than relying on outdated institutions like the Competition Bureau or the CRTC, it's time for the federal government to establish a regulator that actually understands this file," he said.
Facebook Canada said it continues to make investments that target misinformation and harmful content, and stands ready to collaborate with lawmakers on a new legal frameworks for platforms.
"As we've shared, we welcome regulation and have been vocal calling for a new set of public rules for all technology companies to follow. It's been 25 years since the rules for the Internet have been updated and it's time for industry standards to be introduced so private companies aren't making these decisions on their own," Rachel Curran, policy manager at Facebook Canada, said in a statement.
Online hate remains on Ottawa's radar as global observers continue to question Facebook's role in tragedies ranging from the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand to deadly military violence directed at Myanmar's Rohingya minority, along with racist posts in Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged to overhaul internet rules after a pair of bills aiming to regulate social media giants and tackle online hate died on the order paper this year.
In last month's federal election campaign, he promised to introduce legislation within 100 days of forming government that combats harmful online materials.
His plan would create a digital safety commissioner to enforce a new regime that targets child pornography, terrorist content, hate speech and other harmful posts on social media platforms. The regulator could order social media companies to take down posts within 24 hours.
Sam Andrey, director of policy and research at the Ryerson Leadership Lab, welcomes the new blueprint. But he suggested enhancing transparency at tech giants by requiring details on algorithms, not just company data on illegal content and post takedowns.
Andrey also said the government's proposal targets sites where the posts are public such as YouTube and Facebook, but not private messages on platforms such as the Facebook-owned WhatsApp.
"But there's mounting evidence ... that private platforms, including things like WhatsApp or WeChat, can contribute to the spread of online harm," he said, suggesting a way to flag troubling messages.
Charter questions of privacy and free expression may well come into play as the government considers whether the regime should cover private communication, whether to expand its scope to other harmful activity such as impersonation and how proactive the digital safety commissioner and accompanying tribunal could be.
Vivek Krishnamurthy, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, noted that most large platforms already have policies that claim to meet or exceed the government's would-be rules on harmful material, with some seeking to highlight or remove misleading information -- about COVID-19 vaccines, for example.
New Democrats and Conservatives have also questioned why a new regulator is needed to crack down on exploitive material when the Criminal Code already bars child pornography, hate speech and the knowing distribution of illicit images.
Krishnamurthy says the government is focusing too heavily on "culture war" wedge points rather than data privacy, which involves fewer grey areas.
"There's no real work happening on Big Tech and competition in Canada," he added.
Trudeau has said he will reintroduce legislation to modernize the broadcasting regime in a way that could force internet steaming sites like Netflix and Spotify to showcase Canadian content and cough up financial contributions to bolster Canadian creators.
Bill C-10, which died in the Senate in August after the election was triggered, provoked months of debate over whether its regulation of online videos would amount to government overreach, with free speech advocates criticizing the bill and the arts community supporting it.
Angus said Monday that the bill amounted to a "political dumpster fire" and that having the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) address Facebook algorithms would bring "a 1980s solution to a 21st-century problem." He added that Bill C-10 included "good ideas" around applying broadcast rules for funding to Big Tech.
"Tax the SOBs," he said of tech behemoths.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said earlier this month the Liberal government will move ahead with legislation finalizing the enactment of a Digital Services Tax by Jan. 1. The tax would come into effect two years later on Jan. 1, 2024, if a tax regime under a newly inked global agreement has not already come into force.
A spokesperson for Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said comment is not possible until cabinet has been formed, but pointed to the Liberals' platform pledges, including a plank requiring digital giants to pay legacy media outlets for linking to their work.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2021.
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
The Netherlands' contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest was dramatically expelled from competition hours before Saturday's final of the pan-continental pop competition, which has been rattled by protests over the participation of Israel.
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
In the quiet and leafy Vancouver neighbourhood of South Cambie, best known for its botanical garden, playoff fever is about to set in.
Evan Bouchard scored 5:38 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers bounced back for a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday.
Biden wants the 2024 election to be a referendum on Trump's record and plans, but he also wants voters to look favourably on his own policies and actions
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.