TORONTO — An advocacy group that wants the CRTC to ban Fox News says the network's "abusive content" extends beyond its divisive personalities such as recently fired host Tucker Carlson.
Fox News should be banned from Canadian airwaves because it has “repeatedly and regularly” violated broadcasting standards with content that subjects many groups to hate, Egale Canada is arguing in its formal submission to Canada’s broadcasting regulator.
The LGBTQ rights group is dismissing Fox’s argument that the application to remove its news network from Canadian cable TV packages is “moot” in the wake of prime-time host Tucker Carlson’s ousting in late April.
Egale’s reply submission to the CRTC this week follows thousands of comments, including those from Fox News, that the commission received after seeking public input on the matter.
Egale wrote an open letter to the regulator in early April, asking it to consult the public on the removal of Fox News from the list of non-Canadian programming authorized for distribution in Canada.
The letter cited a March 28 episode of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that made “horrifying claims” about transgender and non-binary people, “painting them as violent and dangerous.” The group said it “has experienced firsthand the hate that is generated from a single segment aired on Fox News in Canada.
“We cannot begin to imagine the broader impacts and potential rise in hate that might result from allowing more content like this to air in Canada,” the letter added.
The CRTC opened what’s called a Part 1 application in early May seeking public comments, with a June 2 deadline for written submissions. More than 7,000 submissions were published on the CRTC’s website; many of them supported a ban on Fox News while others said the move would be unreasonable and a violation of press freedoms and freedom of expression.
Fox News urged the CRTC to reject the request for its removal and said Egale’s application “hinges on a claim that is now moot,” given that Tucker Carlson is no longer with the network. In any case, delisting Fox News “would be grossly disproportionate and unprecedented” and contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the network’s legal counsel argued in a submission to the CRTC.
Fox has not disclosed the reason for Carlson’s ouster, but it happened less than a week after the network agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly US$800 million to settle the voting machine company’s lawsuit over false claims aired about the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The New York Times has reported that material uncovered as part of the lawsuit proceedings included “highly offensive” remarks Carlson made in private messages.
Egale Executive Director Helen Kennedy said in an interview last week that although the group’s open letter referenced a particular segment of Carlson’s show, the problem with Fox News is much broader.
“We know from the research that we've done on Fox around some of the other issues that anti-LGBTI sentiment runs deep within that organization and so it's a cultural issue within the organization and it's certainly goes beyond one particular host,” she said.
Kennedy pointed to various submissions to the CRTC from other advocacy groups that offered examples of how Fox News content impacts marginalized groups in Canada.
PFlag wrote that “queerphobic hate has been empowered by media including Fox News spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation.” The Canadian Women’s Foundation said that Fox News broadcasts “content that is abusive, discriminatory, hateful, and exposes women and gender-diverse people, particularly those from Black and racialized communities, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, newcomers, and migrants to hatred and contempt.” The Canadian Anti-Hate Network also supported Egale in its letter to the CRTC.
Fox News did not respond to a request for comment on such submissions by publication time.
The CRTC can delist an international TV channel previously authorized for distribution in Canada if it believes the content would violate regulations that apply to licensed Canadian broadcasters.
That happened last year in the case of Russia’s state-run broadcaster, RT, which was banned from distribution in Canada following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The CRTC said that RT’s content is "likely to expose the Ukrainian people to hatred or contempt on the basis of their race, national or ethnic origin."
In its submission to the CRTC, Fox News argued that the regulator’s decision in the case of RT “is distinct and has no bearing here.” Egale disputed that in its response, saying the CRTC requires “clear evidence that the broadcast of Fox News violates Canadian regulations,” just like it did with RT.
Fox News also said its removal would “give rise to procedural fairness concerns” because the network hasn’t received any warnings from the CRTC about its content. Fox cited the case of a Quebec radio station that got “numerous warnings” from the commission due to complaints about its programming more than 20 years ago.
Some submissions to the CRTC argued that banning Fox News would be an act of censorship and deny Canadians access to differing viewpoints.
“I oppose limits on free speech and limits on journalistic freedoms. This isn’t Russia or China,” one person wrote.
A response written on behalf of the Canadian Citizens for Charter Rights and Freedoms group said the move “seeks to quash viewpoints that, although controversial to some, deserve to be aired in the public interest and in the spirit of free and unencumbered debate … Those who are offended by the news and issues of the day can chose to unsubscribe from the services that provide them.”
But free speech “doesn't mean that it's open season on marginalized groups,” Kennedy said.
“Freedom of speech, freedom of expression is not absolute,” she said. “You can't just say whatever you want regardless of whether someone can unsubscribe or not. And also, Fox comes with other (cable) packages so it's not like you have a choice to just remove Fox from your selection process.”
She said the broader question should be: “Is this the kind of rhetoric that we want to have on our airwaves when Canadian broadcasters have been subjected to a higher standard?
“And I would say no, it's not.”
Kennedy said the push to ban Fox News is one way to address rising hate towards LGBTQ groups, evidenced by violent rhetoric against trans rights, Pride flag raising and other inclusion initiatives on both sides of the border.
“I certainly feel that the community, we're being hunted right now,” she said. “And it's really starting to feel unsafe in ways that we haven't seen in a very, very long time. And it shouldn't be allowed to happen, and certainly shouldn't be allowed to continue. And we'll do everything we can to address this and hold people accountable for us.”
The CRTC said in an email to The Canadian Press that it will “analyze the public record and issue its decision in due course.” On its website, the commission says its “service objective” for Part 1 applications is to issue a decision within four months of the last day to file all submissions on the matter.
From April 2021 to March 2022, 66 per cent of such decisions were issued within four months, the CRTC website says.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2023.
Sonja Puzic, The Canadian Press
