Michael Geist
Law Professor, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, University of Ottawa
www.michaelgeist.ca
Law Bytes Podcast: open.spotify.com/show/5iDUCcDrkzGai0…
http://mgeist.substack.com
- 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.
- 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... x.com/mivillej/sta...
- 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 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: 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...
- 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...
- 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-...
- 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.
- “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...
- 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...
- "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...
- “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...
- 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-...
- 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-...
- “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 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-...
- 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-...
- 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-...
- 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...
- The US targeting Online Streaming Act in trade talks is no surprise given hundreds of millions in payments in a system that discriminates against foreign providers. CUSMA allows the US to levy equivalent tariffs targeting whatever Canadian sector they want. www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-pol...
- I wrote about intimidation marches in Jewish neighbourhoods last month, but today’s editorial gets impact right: “an act of aggression and intimidation, an echo of the Ku Klux Klan marching through a Black neighbourhood” www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit... www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
- As Pablo Rodriguez resigns as Liberal leader in Quebec on the same week as concerns regarding antisemitism mount, I am reminded of how he misled a Commons committee on what he knew regarding Heritage funding for an antisemite. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...
- If you can’t call out antisemitism, you can’t deal with it. But too often leaders avoid references to antisemitism or rely on an “all hate matters” message. Given insidious efforts to deny its existence or question motivations behind it, we must call it out. www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/12/conf...
- I posted yesterday about doing multiple CBC interviews on antisemitism. Here's the clip of the discussion with CBC Kamloops, which examined the rise of antisemitism and how it is affecting the Canadian Jewish community. mgeist.substack.com/p/cbc-daybre...
- I conducted 14 interviews for CBC this morning on rise of antisemitism: 1. Massive increase in antisemitic violence 2. Fear of calling out antisemitism. If won’t name without qualifiers can’t deal with it 3. Months of libels, violent rhetoric, and intimidation in Jewish communities have consequences
- My post on Chanukah Massacre: "What is shocking is no longer the antisemitic violence, but the willingness of so many to ignore or justify it. It is the ease with which otherwise progressive voices remain silent when the targets of racism or exclusion are Jews" www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/12/shoc...
- So shameful to see politicians and commentators feign support for the Jewish community in the wake of the Bondi Beach Chanukah massacre after repeatedly dismissing antisemitism threat warnings since October 7th and often fomenting Jewish hate by trafficking in libels dressed up as anti-zionism.
- As my family prepares to celebrate the start of Chanukah tonight, devastated by the terror attack against the Jewish community in Australia. It is a consequence of relentless antisemitism worldwide and the repeated failures of our leaders explicitly call it out and take action.
- Short on Law Society of Ontario CLE Professionalism hours with the year coming to an end? The Law Bytes podcast has you covered with the Professionalism Pack: LSO accredited CLE podcasts that emphasize AI and legal tech in the practice of law. www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/07/the-...
- The Catch-22 of Canadian Digital Sovereignty: open version of my Globe op-ed that argues Canadian-based AI infrastructure has its advantages, but digital sovereignty isn’t really one of them. www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/12/the-...
- My Globe and Mail op-ed on digital sovereignty: “Canadian-based infrastructure has its advantages, but digital sovereignty isn’t one of them. Solving that issue starts with legal solutions that modernize Canadian privacy and data governance laws.” www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...
- . @cippic.bsky.social is hiring! This is an incredible opportunity to lead Canada’s foremost digital rights public interest clinic and join our technology law group at the University of Ottawa. Deadline to apply is January 9th. uottawa.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/uOttaw...
- The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 253: Guy Rub (@guyrub.bsky.social) on the Unconvincing Case for a New Canadian Artists’ Resale Right www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/12/the-...
- The regular drumbeat for lawful access suggests government really is gearing up to move Bill C-2 again. The current bill features a warrantless access provision that would apply to every provider of a service in Canada. No one has anything remotely close. www.politico.com/newsletters/...
- The Most Unworkable Internet Law in the World: Quebec Opens the Door to Mandating Minimum French Content Quotas for User Generated Content on Social Media www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/12/the-...
- CRTC Says No Regulatory Action Planned Against Meta For Blocking News Links www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/12/crtc...
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- The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 252: Len St-Aubin on the CRTC’s Plan To Modernize Canadian Content Rules www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/12/the-...
- Important but infuriating episode in which the anti-Zionist Jewish guest says tripping on a sidewalk is a bigger physical risk to Canadian Jews than the shooting at schools, synagogue vandalism, and bomb threats at Jewish community centres. www.canadaland.com/podcast/3-as...
- Open version of my op-ed: Canada protects freedom of expression as a fundamental Charter right. But while the speech is protectable, there must be consequences for those with the intent to harass or intimidate others based on their religion or political beliefs. www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/11/why-...
- My Globe op-ed on the “protests” in residential neighbourhoods that are not aimed at a government office, institution, public event, or high-profile personality. Rather they seek to harass or intimidate individuals based on their religion or political beliefs. www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/bc5ccfd...
- Digital sovereignty is hot the digital policy phrase of the moment driving discussion on Canadian digital policy involving AI, digital infrastructure, privacy, and cultural policy. But what does it really mean? Jennifer Pybus joins my Law Bytes podcast to discuss. www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/11/the-...
- Reversing the Reversal?: Government Puts Privacy Invasive Lawful Access Back on the Agenda www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/11/reve...
- Warrantless access to personal info returns! Months after backing down on lawful access and shifting to Bill C-12, government reverses and urges passage of Bill C-2. Bizarre press conference falsely claims information demand powers includes judicial oversight. www.cpac.ca/headline-pol...
