Ottawa, ON — Rick Perkins, Conservative Shadow Minister for Innovation, Science, and Industry, issued the following statement in response to the latest Liberal attempt to control what Canadians can and can’t see online:
“After eight years of Trudeau’s attempts to control the internet, senior departmental officials confirmed that Liberal amendments to Bill C-27 will provide the Trudeau government near limitless regulatory power to moderate and prioritize the content Canadians see online.
“Yesterday, at industry committee the Trudeau government’s amendments to the AI bill allow the Liberal government to ‘moderate’ and ‘prioritize’ the recommendations made on social media platforms. This will provide Trudeau with the authority to control what Canadians see online by giving his government the ability to ‘prioritize’ and ‘moderate’ what content they want seen.
“The Liberal government is seeking to regulate what people see and say online through a last minute amendment without any meaningful public consultation. None of our major trading partners have implemented anything similar with regards to AI regulations but Trudeau’s amendments to Canada’s AI regulations are similar to what the communist government in Beijing has implemented in its AI space to moderate online content.
“Bill C-27 is Justin Trudeau’s fifth attempt to control what Canadians see online. First, they tried C-10, then C-11, C-18, and C-63, and now they are using C-27 to control what Canadians see online. Once again, the Liberals are more interested in controlling the internet than actually protecting Canadians’ fundamental freedoms.
“Common sense Conservatives call on Liberal-NDP committee members to join Conservatives and end Justin Trudeau’s attempt to control what Canadians see and say online. Canadians deserve a choice when it comes to what they see and hear online, and they deserve to make their choices free from Liberal interference.
“Common-sense Conservatives will defend free expression and a free and open internet as we continue to fight back against the censorship agenda of this Liberal government.”