The National Post reports in its Tuesday, May 27, edition that the Quebec government intends to push major digital platforms to prioritize francophone content, with penalties for non-compliance. A Postmedia dispatch to the Post reports that former Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission vice-chair Peter Menzies expressed concerns about Quebec asserting control over areas typically under federal jurisdiction. Bill 109 would enable the Quebec government to set quotas for francophone music, films and television series on platforms like Netflix, Spotify, Apple Music and Google's YouTube.
Those platforms would also have to offer an easier way for users to find francophone content. Quebec Minister of Culture and Communications Mathieu Lacombe said, "Access to our culture, to films, to TV series, to songs in French, it must be easy, it must be simple when we're in Quebec." If Bill 109 is passed, it would establish the "quantity or proportion" of original French-language content that must be offered on digital platforms with a default French-language interface. It would also enshrine the right of access to French-language cultural content in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
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