Michael Geist

I’ve written about Bill C-4’s stealth privacy rules which largely exempt political parties from privacy law. The House acted like provisions didn’t exist. This week, a Senate committee actually studied it and came back firmly opposed with three potential approaches: kill it, split it, sunset it.

Listened to @mgeist.bsky.social latest podcast with @lisagiven.bsky.social at lunch today, and it really drives home that social media bans aren’t a silver bullet solution. Highly recommend giving it a listen! 👇

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 257: Lisa Given on What Canada Can Learn From Australia’s Youth Social Media Ban - Michael Geist Social media bans for younger users have begun to take hold in various countries, particularly in Europe. In Canada, Bill S-209 may ostensibly be about underage access to pornography sites, but the bi...

Social media bans have begun to appear in various countries with Australia's social media ban taking effect late last year. @lisagiven.bsky.social joins Law Bytes podcast to discuss how it functions and what lessons Canada might draw from the experience to date.
www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/02/the-...

Court Ordered Social Media Site Blocking Coming to Canada?: Trojan Horse Online Harms Bill Clears Senate Committee Review - Michael Geist Critics of Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne’s successive bills that ostensibly target pornography sites have for years warned of the privacy and equity risks that arise from mandated age verification and...

After watching the clause-by-clause hearing, it is apparent that Bill S-209 is not a bill primarily focused on pornography sites. If it was, it could be drafted with those directly in mind. Rather, it is a trojan horse online harms bill targeting social media.
www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/02/cour...

Senate committee approves S-209, which has become a trojan horse online harms bill that envisions giving the government the power to mandate age verification and site blocking for a myriad of websites that go well beyond just pornography sites. @senatorpaulasimons.bsky.social only one to oppose it.

Bill S-209 website blocking provision just amended. Site blocking still there but this clause - which acknowledged it could result in blocking lawful content - removed. Senators will leave it to Federal Court to determine scope of blocking order.

Few Canadians are paying attention as Senate committee approves creating government power mandating that virtually any site - social media, AI, search - require age verification under threat of court-ordered blocking in Canada. Bill S-209 about far more than pornography sites.

During Bill S-209 clause-by-clause review, Senator @jmivilledechene.bsky.social confirms that she wants bill to potentially go beyond pornography sites. Argues need option to cover broad range of sites, including social media. Would raise possibility of court ordered blocking of social media.

Risky Business: The Legal and Privacy Concerns of Mandatory Age Verification Technologies - Michael Geist When the intersection of law and technology presents seemingly intractable new challenges, policy makers often bet on technology itself to solve the problem. Whether countering copyright infringement ...

Clause-by-clause review for Bill S-209 this morning. The bill raises serious privacy concerns, is overbroad with potential coverage of search and social media, and envisions court ordered website blocking.
www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/07/risk...
www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/05/here...
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An Illusion of Consensus: What the Government Isn’t Saying About the Results of its AI Consultation - Michael Geist The government quietly released a “what we heard” report this week discussing the response to its 30-day sprint AI consultation from last October. Described as the “largest public consultation in the ...

Government used AI to summarize expert reports from its AI consult. I did the same by uploading them to Chat GPT/Perplexity AI to generate new summaries. I found the government consistently softened advice creating an illusion of consensus that isn’t really there.
www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/02/aico...

The Globe reports that lawful access coming back yet again. Last version included expansive warrantless access rules. Piece notably cites to internal CSIS emails celebrating the inclusion of lawful access in Bill C-2 days before the bill introduced.
www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 256: Jennifer Quaid on Taking On Big Tech With the Competition Act's Private Right of Access - Michael Geist Concerns about the dominance of big tech companies has been steadily mounting for years, leading to an increased emphasis on the role that competition law might play. The government recently expanded ...

The government recently expanded the Competition Act to enable individuals to launch their own claims. That quickly led to a case against Google, which the Competition Tribunal addressed in a recent ruling. Jennifer Quaid joins the Law Bytes podcast to discuss.
www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/02/the-...

Government Says There Are No Plans for National Digital ID To Access Services - Michael Geist The government has confirmed that it has no plans to create a national identification system. The issue arose in a sessional paper response released this week to a question from Conservative MP Marily...

Government Says There Are No Plans for National Digital ID To Access Services: in response to an MP question on a potential timeline, it says “the Government of Canada is not implementing a federal or national digital identification credential”
www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/01/gove...

Government Reveals Digital Policy Priorities in Trio of Responses to Canadian Heritage Committee Reports - Michael Geist The Canadian government has responded to three reports focused on digital policies from the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, shedding new light on potential future policies and priorities. The...

What does the government have in mind for digital platform liability? The Canadian Heritage committee produced many recommendations but the government’s responses suggests that with the exception of illegal sexually explicit content it isn’t ready to act.
www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/01/gove...

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 255: Grappling with Grok - Heidi Tworek on the Limits of Canadian Law - Michael Geist The Law Bytes podcast is back, starting with an episode on the limits of Canadian law in addressing the concerns associated with Grok AI, the AI chatbot that garnered global attention over the widespr...

Concerns about sexualized deep fakes on Grok weaves together online harms, privacy, AI regulation, and platform regulation. Canada has thus far struggled to respond. Heidi Tworek (@heiditworek.bsky.social) examines why on this week’s Law Bytes podcast.
www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/01/law-...

Canadian TikTok Ban Called Off as the Government Hits the Digital Policy Reset Button Once Again - Michael Geist The Carney government’s steady reset of Canadian digital policy continues as it has now backed off plans to ban TikTok from operating in Canada. The government’s approach, first announced in November ...

The government’s reset of digital policy continues as it has backed off plans to ban TikTok from operating in Canada. The reset came through what amounts to a settlement with TikTok as the government asked the federal court to set the ban order aside.
www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/01/cana...

Canadian government hits reset button on TikTok corporate ban. Ban never made sense given that the app itself was left untouched. Federal court has granted a consent order dismissing prior review of decision (not a rejection on merits). The government will conduct a new review.

The next massacre of Jews is likely to occur in Canada | Opinion In Canada, unchecked anti-Zionist rhetoric and weak enforcement have fueled a surge in antisemitic violence and fear.

“In Canada, the anti-Zionist movement is not constrained to downtown marches or college encampments. It targets Jews where we live, where we worship and where we send our kids.”
www.newsweek.com/next-massacr...

Opinion: The antisemitism you might have missed over the holidays These international acts don’t just add to feelings of insecurity for Jewish people – they should be disconcerting for us all

Global antisemitism is so bad that this @marshalederman.bsky.social piece chronicling recent events does not even mention the Bondi Chanukah massacre aftermath including the stonewalling of a royal commission nor an egregious antisemitic media report in Spain.
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Cellphone plans could be getting more expensive after years of decline, data suggest Statistics Canada data from October and November showing year-over-year price increases could represent start of a new trend

www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/pe...

Opinion: Canada should be prepared to give up the Online Streaming Act in U.S. trade talks If Ottawa hopes to stand firm on certain trade issues, it should ditch a law that has been an implementation mess, even if it will be costly

"In other words, it’s a mess. Even before Mr. Greer put the legislation on the table, the world was unfolding almost exactly the way the Online Streaming Act’s critics had predicted it would since it was first introduced as Bill C-10 in late 2020."
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Harley Finkelstein: Canadian Jews are being targeted simply because they are Jewish Celebrations of Jewish life that have nothing to do with Israel are being disrupted as the nation stands idly by

“What began as chants has crossed into intimidation. What is excused as advocacy now routinely crosses into harassment, disruption and outright antisemitism, playing out openly from places like the Eaton Centre to university campuses across the country."
nationalpost.com/opinion/cana...

The Year in Review: Top Ten Michael Geist Substacks - Michael Geist My look back at 2025 concludes with a review of my most popular Substacks of the year. Much like my top ten blog posts, lawful access, privacy and digital policy were the most popular issues, though S...

My look back at 2025 concludes with a review of my most popular Substacks of the year. Lawful access, privacy and digital policy were the most popular issues joined by Quebec’s Internet streaming legislation and multiple posts on the digital services tax.
www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/12/the-...

The Year in Review: Top Ten Law Bytes Podcast Episodes - Michael Geist The final Law Bytes podcast of 2025 released last week took a look back at the year in digital policy. With the podcast on a holiday break, this post looks back at the ten most popular episodes of the...

With my @lawbytespod podcast on a holiday break, this post looks back at the ten most popular episodes of the year. Topping the charts this year was a discussion with Sukesh Kamra on law firm adoption of artificial intelligence and innovative technologies.
www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/12/the-...

'Hiding their Jewish identity': Professor warns antisemitism is making campuses intolerable for Jews Ideology has seized our universities, Cary Kogan says: “We can't have this kind of identity-based hate movement being taught in classrooms."

“the biggest or the most painful thing for Jewish students is the double standard.” How do students cope? “They’re avoiding campus, taking courses online, they’re hiding their Jewish identity. Their behaviour is changing as a function of the hostility”
nationalpost.com/news/canada/...

CRTC's Cancon decision challenged in federal court - CMPA takes issue with justification on copyright ownership changes. Bill C-11 was always destined for years of litigation.
cartt.ca/cmpa-says-cr...

The Year in Review: Top Ten Posts - Michael Geist This week’s Law Bytes podcast featured a look at the year in review in digital law and policy. Before wrapping up for the year, the next three posts over the holidays will highlight my most popular po...

The Year in Review: Top Ten Posts on my blog. Two issues dominated: lawful access and antisemitism. While most of the top ten involves those two issues, the top post of the year featured an analysis of the government’s failed approach to the DST.
www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/12/the-...

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 254: Looking Back at the Year in Canadian Digital Law and Policy - Michael Geist Canadian digital law and policy in 2025 was marked by the unpredictable with changes in leadership in Canada and the U.S. driving a shift in policy approach. Over the past year, that included a revers...

Canadian digital law and policy in 2025 included a DST reversal, return of lawful access, and the end of online harms, privacy and AI regulation bills. The final @lawbytes.bsky.social podcast of 2025 looks back at the most significant developments this past year.
www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/12/the-...

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A Canadian law professor talks about how the mass shooting in Australia at a Hanukkah gathering has raised fear among Jewish communities in Canada
www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

Opinion: A Netflix deal for Warner means curtains for Crave unless Canadian regulators step in Acquiring HBO assets would hollow out the offerings on Canadian streamer

There may be good competition law reasons to block the Netflix-Warner Bros merger, but saving a Canadian streaming service whose primary value proposition comes from exclusively licensing U.S. content isn’t one of them.
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...