Thank you for the question, Ms. Harder.
I guess the starting point would be perhaps to point all members to subsection 2(3) of the act, which talks about the act being “construed and applied in a manner that is consistent with the freedom of expression and journalistic, creative and programming independence enjoyed by broadcasting undertakings.” At its heart, the Broadcasting Act has recognized that media are obviously in the business of sharing ideas and opinions and that freedom of expression is very important.
A lot of the debate over the last few weeks has focused on the issue of the interaction between social media services, which, again, are caught by the definition of “online undertaking” and being regulated, and the intersection with users who use those services.
If I understand the intention of the amendment correctly, it would be to clarify that the CRTC, in applying that discoverability power, should do it in a way that is consistent with freedom of expression, i.e., the ability for users to post and upload the content they wish to social media services.