I'm currently working with Chris Tenove and Heidi Tworek on a report about content moderation. First off is that there is no one jurisdiction that's going to regulate these platforms. I think they are multi-jurisdictional and I think that's actually something that's not a problem. We have that with broadcasting and telecommunications.
In terms of the Privacy Commissioner and the CRTC with regard to the ways platforms function, I think they do at times function specifically as broadcasters as well as, I think, a specific new category that deals with this content moderation problem. I think it's important to recognize that they fit into existing jurisdictions and need to be held accountable with regard to the ways in which their activities fit within those, but then I think there's this content moderation question that we really have not given any serious legislative attention to. What we have is kind of a piecemeal amalgam of hate speech laws and revenge porn laws.
One of the things I, along with my co-authors, am recommending is a social media standards council or a content moderation standards council similar to a broadcasting standards council. If you look at what the broadcasting standards council looks like, it's very parallel to what has been called for and what we need in content moderation, with an appeals process, transparency, and disclosure. I think the concern and the push-back I have to give back are that's it's more industry self-regulation. I think there is a criticism there, but I think that's an important first step that would actually start convening around this particular activity of content moderation, which we have not recognized well before the law.