Facebook will remove your content, YouTube will remove your videos, LinkedIn will kick you off, but podcasts have been where we've still been able to talk to each other unhindered.
Was it only a matter of time before the bad guys came for podcasts?
In Canada, the first steps may be under way.
Now, platforms generating at least $10 million in revenue (so Spotify, for example) and which feature podcasts will have to register with the Canadian government to make them part of its regulatory framework.
That $10 million requirement might make you think this regulation will have limited effect, but remember how Americans were told that their income tax would be paid only by the super rich? Yeah.
Not to mention: even if the requirement does hold only for large streaming services, if one of the podcasts on that service gets it into regulatory trouble, we can surely see what will happen next.
Further, the streaming services that meet this threshold will be required to inform the government what kind of content they offer and who their subscribers are.
Bill C-11 further empowers the regime to demand that the search algorithms of major platforms be modified so as to enhance the "discoverability" of certain kinds of programs and "the presentation of programs and programming services for selection by the public."
This is a first step, not the final nail in the coffin, but it's a step in a very bad direction, and one that good Canadians ought to fight.
Meanwhile, here in the United States, where I live, let's stay alert and keep our independent podcast voices alive.
