Michael Geist

Signal leaves no doubt about the impact of Bill C-22 on the popular messaging app in a statement to the committee: “Signal will not build surveillance into our service. If we are ever forced to choose between betraying the people who rely on us and leaving a market, we will leave.”

The RCMP appeared before the Public Safety and National Security committee yesterday and affirmed that critics' concerns about Bill C-22 are well justified. The bill is about police gaining access to backdoors and encrypted communications. www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/05/rcmp...

Canadian Government: Tech companies are misleading the public on security backdoors and breaking encryption in Bill C-22 RCMP: We welcome Bill C-22 because we need security backdoors and the legal tools to break encryption

The Bill C-22 hearing yesterday featuring the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Apple, Google and others was a mess. But the message was clear. Bill C-22 represents a serious risk to the privacy and security of millions of Canadians. www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/05/appl...

Apple leaves no doubt about the risk of Bill C-22 : "as drafted, this bill allows the Government of Canada to force companies to break encryption by inserting backdoors into their products, something Apple will never do."

The government’s inconsistency on cybersecurity is dizzying: rightly prioritized in the AI context but badly undermined by Bill C-22 and lawful access proposals that could create risky backdoors. As I said to the SECU committee, make it make sense. www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/05/make...

At yesterday's Bill C-22 hearing, I tried to convey the risk that the lawful access plan could make Canada an outlier, forcing companies to remove privacy protections from the Canadian market or exit the market altogether. www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/05/make...

Last week I wrote about government plans to provide millions in tax credits for news operations of giants like Bell and Rogers. Now Culture Minister Mark Miller says “it’s not a question of it, but how” and put a potential price tag on it. $6 BILLION?! bsky.app/profile/mgei...

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.

Montreal tonight. This is madness.

Months of the Jewish community raising concerns about antisemitism on Canadian university campuses only for too many to ignore or deny. The streets of Montreal yesterday outside Concordia University: “the final solution is coming your way.” www.jpost.com/diaspora/art...

Ethics committee debated a motion yesterday on holding a hearing on the TikTok corporate ban. Liberal MP response? “I would advise all Canadians against having TikTok accounts…young people love TikTok but I think there is already a sufficient number of apps and platforms of sharing content.”