Trudeau Liberals approve proposal to censor news using anonymous sources
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Journalists’ use of anonymous sources is a practice as old as the trade itself and is considered one of the hallmarks of the freedom of the press, to which Canadians have a right.
(LifeSiteNews) – A Liberal Party of Canada policy proposal which calls for online news “publications” whose sources cannot be “verified” to in effect be censored was passed by party members over the weekend, which a top Canadian internet analyst warned sets a “dangerous” precedent.
In total, Liberal Party members “passed and prioritized” 24 official party policies, in order of priority at its Party National Convention, which began Thursday and concluded Saturday in Ottawa.
Coming in at number 10 was a policy resolution titled “Combatting Disinformation in Canada,” which was sponsored by the Liberal Party of Canada (British Columbia).
According to the Liberals’ “Disinformation” policy, Canada’s mainstream media “no longer employs as many reporters with extensive knowledge of particular subject areas,” and there is an increase in “disinformation” which is an “existential risk to humanity.”
Because of this, the Liberal party produced and passed two resolutions.
The first reads, “BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Liberal Party of Canada: Request the Government explore options to hold on-line information services accountable for the veracity of material published on their platforms and to limit publication only to material whose sources can be traced.”
The second resolution reads that the government “provide additional public funds to support advertisement-free news and information reporting by Canadian media through an arm’s-length non-partisan mechanism.”
Michael Geist serves as the research chair of internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa and is critical of federal online censorship legislation. “If enacted, the policy would undermine freedom of the press and could even spark widespread censorship on Internet platforms,” Geist warned in a blog post Friday. “In addition, it passed a resolution to develop ‘truth in political advertising’ legislation to be administered by an oversight body.”