Canada, according to its government, is remaking its broadcasting system. This is an interesting way to summarize it. As someone who promotes freedom, remake could be considered censorship.
It all starts with a registration.
Once that happens, governments could start to dictate the terms. This is the path that Canada is following.
We now have another step forward with the potential regulation of podcasts.
All of this is showing why the world is desperate for Web3. It is going to be crucial to get the infrastructure in place to ensure that this cannot occur.
This is very disturbing.
Canada's Regulations
Let us look at the two major regulations that are going in place.
The first is as follows:
First, the CRTC is setting out which online streaming services need to provide information about their activities in Canada. Online streaming services that operate in Canada, offer broadcasting content, and earn $10 million or more in annual revenues will need to complete a registration form by November 28, 2023. Registration collects basic information, is only required once and can be completed in just a few steps.
We see the starting point is registration.
This is not individual but the streaming services. This mean Netflix, Spotify, Apple, and whoever else streams content, whether video or directly. Instead, it is targeting the companies.audio, is required to register. This does not affect the individual podcasts or the subscribers
Up next is where it gets really interesting.
Second, the CRTC is setting conditions for online streaming services to operate in Canada. These conditions take effect today and require certain online streaming services to provide the CRTC with information related to their content and subscribership. The decision also requires those services to make content available in a way that is not tied to a specific mobile or Internet service.
The rules require these services to provide information regarding the content and subscribership. Why would they have to do this?
It is obviously this is being done to ensure the government approves of the content. We also can presume the data will be used to see who is following what, allowing the government to track all activities.
We can see it is not hard to read the nefarious intentions that are taking place here. With the recent history of the government, we have an idea where this is all heading.
Global Action
Canada is not alone in this. Last year, the Biden Administration tried to do something similar in the United States. While not as far reaching, it was meant to provide "oversight" to the information the public had access to. In other word, the government was going to be directly involved.
This received a lot of pushback and was scrapped. However, we can see the trend is in place.
As governments find themselves under attack, politicians are going to seek to cut off the communications people have. Disinformation is the norm. The problem is that it is coming from the major news sources. They are fed propaganda meant to sway the opinions of the masses.
To test this, simply look at how many "conspiracy theories" over the last 5 years came true after the mainstream said it was nonsense.
Those in cryptocurrency know the push towards tyranny is in full swing. Central bank digital currencies are a move to put the money in the hands of these same politicians and bureaucrats.
Web3 Is the Solution
Fortunately, we are working on a solution.
People will find that Web3 is going to offer something they have nowhere else. An overlooked feature right now is the fact that accounts are at risk.
For the moment, this lies in the hands of the platform owner. Hence, YouTube, Facebook, or X can all cancel an account based upon the ToS.
But what happens when governments get involved? If a streaming platform such as Spotify has to register in Canada, what is to prevent the government from forcing the removal of a podcast? It will come up with some nice term like terrorist, dissident, or something that will frame it in a way that makes the government look noble.
Could it do the same to accounts? Of course.
The monetary and financial situation is what garners a lot of the attention. This, however is as big a factor, if not bigger.
Web3 has offered the solution. On Hive, there is true account ownership. As long as one is in control of his or her keys, the account is accessible. This also means that it can engage in with the database, something that is severed under Web 2.0.
For all the talk about why web3 is needed and where it is, this is the answer. While it is still being constructed, the fact that censorship resistant information is vital to our freedom. Look at the most tyrannical regimes in the last 100 years. What is one thing they all had in common? They controlled the media and information that people received.
Governments are out of control. The political establishment around the world is completely corrupt. We had the passing of a long time U.S. Senator recently. She was a public servant making $200K per year.
Yet, according to records, at the time of her passing, her net worth was $160 million.
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident within the U.S. or most other countries.
Web3 is the disruptor. It starts with a couple fundamental blocks.
The first is true account ownership. This means one's account cannot be closed, taken, or canceled. It is in the hands of the individual. Some will call this digital sovereignty.
Another important factor is that it allows for the transfer of information to whomever one wants. This means the communication flow is not permissioned. If I have access to my account, I can write whatever I desire in this article. At the same time, it is possible to tag anyone with an account. This means direct, albeit not private, communication can take place.
This is why projects such as SpkNetwork are crucial. It is looking at reworking the way data is stored to ensure those who post it do not get censored.
For all the talk about Lambos, money, and green candles, this is actually much bigger. We are witnessing, first hand, why Web3 is crucial.