{"id":17559,"date":"2023-08-02T05:15:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T09:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=17559"},"modified":"2023-08-01T19:17:17","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T23:17:17","slug":"digital-exclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=17559","title":{"rendered":"Parliamentary committee failures"},"content":{"rendered":"

A British Parliamentary Committee has recently released<\/a> a report<\/a> discussing Digital Exclusion<\/a> [pdf<\/a>, 1.4MB] in the UK. The intent of the report was to call attention to the “political lethargy” in the UK that is undermining an ambition to make the UK a technology superpower.<\/p>\n

However, the report was criticized as being “vague and superficial” in a commentary<\/a> by Telecoms.com editorial director Scott Bicheno. He observed inconsistencies, such as a claim in the Committee’s press release that there are 7M households without broadband or mobile internet access. The report itself says the correct figure is 1.7M households. The report uses an Ofcom study<\/a> that found 6% of UK households (which corresponds to 1.7M of the UK’s approximately 28M total households) had no internet connection, whether fixed or mobile. One can only presume the figure in the press release is just wrong, perhaps driven by a typo.<\/p>\n

The Telecoms.com commentary concludes with a reference to the UK’s efforts to create an Online Harms<\/a> bill. The article finishes with a bite. “If this clumsy legislation is anything to go by it seems the first focus for improving digital skills should be the government itself.”<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Canada’s Parliamentary Industry Committee (INDU) has not really distinguished itself with exemplary digital literacy as I have discussed<\/a> many times in the past.<\/p>\n

In my view, the parliamentary committee review process is broken. That view was also expressed last fall by University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist<\/a>. Is there a better example than the Heritage Committee review<\/a> of Bill C-18, the Online News Act<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Witnesses are frequently given too little time to provide meaningful responses to questions from Members of Parliament. Frequently, those questions seem designed mainly to create transcripts for campaign materials in the next election, hoping for a “gotcha” moment that can be editted into a partisan soundbite for Twitter or Facebook. <\/p>\n

It is interesting to see that the UK parliamentary committee report on Digital Exclusion can be as poorly crafted as some INDU reports I have critiqued here in Canada (eg. this one<\/a>). Indeed, it is sad that so little illumination seems to emerge from so many committee review processes.<\/p>\n

As Professor Geist wrote<\/a>, “I don\u2019t have any obvious solutions. The reality is probably that unless Ministers prioritize accountability and MPs show some independence, nothing will change.” On that note, it has been just over 2 years since I highlighted CRTC funding of a purveyor of hate<\/a>. The Department of Canadian Heritage ignored warnings until the story went viral. No one has been held accountable. Not one dollar has been recovered. The Heritage Committee review<\/a> of the case resulted in no report, no admonishments, no accountability. The Ministers responsible for the funding, Rodriguez and Hussen, have retained seats at the Cabinet table.<\/p>\n

Of course, there have been exceptions where Committee review created better legislation. The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration recently concluded a productive review of Bill S-245<\/a>, “An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (granting citizenship to certain Canadians)”. But, the Committee review process there was nearly derailed by partisan filibustering. <\/p>\n

The Parliamentary Committee review process is currently broken. <\/p>\n

Why are some committee reviews more productive than others? Why has such success been the exception, not the rule?<\/p>\n

Will increased digital engagement drive increased partisan polarization or less? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A British Parliamentary Committee has recently released a report discussing Digital Exclusion [pdf, 1.4MB] in the UK. The intent of the report was to call attention to the “political lethargy” in the UK that is undermining an ambition to make the UK a technology superpower. However, the report was criticized as being “vague and superficial” …<\/p>\n

Parliamentary committee failures<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","two_page_speed":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nParliamentary committee failures • Telecom Trends<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A British Parliamentary Committee has recently released a report discussing Digital Exclusion in the UK. 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