Liberal members voted to pass a resolution at their convention to increase spending on subsidies to the mainstream media and require journalists to have their sources made public. ."Is now official #LPC policy although the vote is non-binding on the Liberal govt," said Global News chief political correspondent David Akin in a Saturday tweet. .The Liberals’ British Columbia wing sponsored Resolution 472. .“WHEREAS the United Nations Secretary-General recognizes disinformation as an ‘existential risk to humanity’,” said the Liberals’ BC wing. .This wing said online platforms are the source of most disinformation aimed at or available to Canadians. It added people who spread misinformation “seek to undermine trust in people and institutions, including mainstream media and governments.” .A poll found 44% of Canadians believe much of the information from news outlets is false, and 71% think government accounts of events are untrustworthy. The demand for constant information has increased the need for programming while advertising revenue is lost to online platforms. .To reduce costs, the wing said mainstream media no longer employs reporters with as extensive knowledge of particular subject areas and fills space with opinion journalism. It said this “has devalued mainstream media as a source of news and information.” .“BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Liberal Party of Canada Request the Government provide additional public funds to support advertisement-free news and information reporting by Canadian media through an arm’s-length non-partisan mechanism,” it said. .“Request the Government explore options to hold on-line information services accountable for the veracity of material published on their platforms and to limit publication only to material whose sources can be traced.”.Akin pointed out a few Liberal MPs are former journalists. ."Wonder what the former journalists in the govt caucus and cabinet think of #LPC policy resolution 472 calling for a new law that would essentially outlaw the use of anonymous sources by journalists," he said. .The Canadian government invoked confidentiality in 2022 by refusing to detail cash payments from the media bailout to individual publishers. .READ MORE: $595 million bailout for news media remains 'confidential'.“Confidentiality provisions under Section 241 of the Income Tax Act prevent the Agency from releasing taxpayer information,” said Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier..The only payments disclosed to date have been identified by publicly traded companies such as the Winnipeg Free Press. The Winnipeg Free Press receives $1 million per year in payroll rebates..Misleading political communications should be federally regulated, said censorship advisors appointed by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez in July. .READ MORE: Heritage Minister advisors say "misleading political communications" should also be censored.These advisors said unregulated political discussion and disinformation was a kind of pollution that “erodes the foundations of democracy.”.Staff said advisors “stressed Canadians’ ability to have conversations about basic policy disagreements has been severely impacted and complicated by the phenomenon of disinformation.” They explained it harms democracy, polarizes people, and reduces social dialogue to confrontational encounters.
