In an open letter addressed to Vicky Eatrides, Chairperson and CEO of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), 2SLGBTQI rights organization Egale Canada called for a public consultation on the broadcast of the Fox News Channel in Canada.
Egale referred to a segment in a recent episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight where the coverage “aimed to provoke hatred and violence against 2SLGBTQI communities, particularly those who are Two Spirit, trans, nonbinary and gender non-conforming (2STNBGN).”
Carlson falsely claimed that the trans movement is targeting Christians after police said that Nashville shooter Audrey Hale was transgender. The host is among conservative commentators and far-right politicians who have been using the Nashville Christian School shooting, which claimed the lives of six people, as a jump-off point for anti-transgender rhetoric.
“The segment also contained a range of other malicious misinformation about 2STNBGN people,” Egale wrote. “Including that trans people are given preferential treatment in employment and other opportunities. This is clearly an attempt to stoke resentment against 2STNBGN people.”
The organization then called on the CRTC to hold non-Canadian broadcasters like Fox News to the same standards as Canadian channels.
CRTC has the authority to fine or take away licenses of Canadian broadcasters that are found to air “any abusive comment or abusive pictorial representation that, when taken in context, tends to or is likely to expose an individual or a group or class of individuals to hatred or contempt on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age or mental or physical disability,” according to section 5(b) of the Television Broadcasting Regulations.
Egale asked the regulator for a public consultation on “the appropriateness of the continued inclusion of Fox News on the List” of non-Canadian programming authorized for distribution in Canada.
The organization pointed out section 18(3) of the Broadcasting Act which says that the CRTC “may hold a public hearing, make a report, issue any decision and give any approval in connection with any complaint or representation made to the Commission or with any other matter within its jurisdiction under this Act if it is satisfied that it would be in the public interest to do so.”
“Given the rising levels of anti-trans hate around the world and the potential for segments like the one recently aired on Fox News, there needs to be a serious Canadian conversation about the broadcasting of Fox News in Canada,” they wrote.
“The Television Broadcasting Regulations represent a democratic consensus on what we do and do not accept on our airwaves, and we have agreed that we do not tolerate abuse and misinformation.”
Time to Ban Fox News?
This isn’t the first time that the CRTC’s attention has been called on the matter of Fox News this year.
In March, the Toronto Star said that the regulator should move to ban the channel after the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against the channel surfaced that Fox News has been knowingly spreading disinformation, and has continued to propagate falsehoods regarding the 2020 US election results and the January 6 riots.
In the short article, the publication cited CRTC’s ban on the Kremlin-controlled news channel RT as a precedent. RT was banned in Canada in 2022 after Russia attacked Ukraine and spread propaganda about its “special military operation.”
As of this writing, the regulator has yet to respond to these calls publicly.
Information for this briefing was found via Egale Canada, the Associated Press, Washington Post, Toronto Star, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
