1984

“Censorship is free speech.”

Open letter

March 9 2022

Dear Honourable Minister Sean Fraser,

Recently the Prime Minister has been speaking about how it is authoritarian when a country does not stop misinformation. In the book 1984, George Orwell explains “War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.” I think George Orwell may have missed this one: “Censorship is free speech.”

From my understanding, the word "program" used in Bill C-11 can easily become anything that is posted on social media. The CRTC will have its own criteria of what type of program needs to be promoted in a person's feed, and what kind of program will need to be removed. 

On that note, most of the media that I trust and spend my time consuming is not regulated by the CRTC.

By allowing the CRTC to regulate online content, there will be even less media that I will be interested in, and I might find myself repeating history. When the Soviet Union censored the media, an underground press was initiated. Instead of repeating history, let us learn from it. 

As your constituent, I ask that you take a stand for free speech and vote no to Bill C-11.

Sincerely,

Renee