Bell caught censoring news coverage of recent wins for Internet users

Update 10:45AM PST: The CRTC has just responded to this mornings news. You can their comments here. Just when you think Bell is out of tricks, they can surprise even the most hardened Internet freedom advocates. This morning, The Globe and Mail is reporting that, according to inside sources, Bell president Kevin Crull censored Bell-owned CTV’s news coverage of CRTC decisions promising greater telecom choice and affordability for Canadians across the country. Apparently, the decisions were popular with Canadians, but not so popular with Bell. This type of editorial interference raises important and concerning questions about media independence in Canada, and the ability of large, vertically-integrated telecom giants to create an unfair playing field for themselves, and manipulate Canadians by controlling what we see and read. And, to be clear, this is NOT the first time they've done this.

Apparently, the straw the broke the camel’s back was the recent “pick-and-pay” announcement that OpenMedia commented on extensively in the press– not outlets owned by Bell, of course. From James Bradshaw, writing in The Globe and Mail:

The incident happened last Thursday, not long after the 4 p.m. release of the CRTC’s so-called “pick-and-pay” decision, which will give consumers more freedom to choose cable and satellite TV channels... Shortly after the announcement, CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais appeared on BNN, a Bell Media-owned business news station, for a six-minute interview with reporter Greg Bonnell. Almost immediately, Mr. Crull called Wendy Freeman, the president of CTV News… [and] told Ms. Freeman he was in charge of the network and that Mr. Blais was not to appear on air again that day, according to accounts of the exchange. [emphases added].

And Mr. Crull did not stop there. Allegedly, Bell made sure the Chair of the CRTC, Jean Pierre Blais, was “scrubbed” from the record:

Mr. Blais was booked for an interview on the CTV show Power Play at 5 p.m., hosted by Don Martin. But minutes before the show went to air, CTV cancelled Mr. Blais’s appearance. A CRTC spokesperson confirmed the cancellation, but said no reason was given. ...A news story filed for 6 p.m. local newscasts by CTV reporter John Vennavally-Rao contained no footage of Mr. Blais, even though he had spoken to reporters and TV cameras.

News of Bell’s meddling coincides with a major decision from the Federal Court of Appeal denying Bell Mobility’s request to continue offering their controversial Mobile TV service – which makes independent services like Netflix up to 800% more expensive – until their challenge of a landmark CRTC decision is resolved.

So while Bell may be throwing a temper tantrum, it appears that Canadians, the Federal Courts, the CRTC, and media vendors like The Globe and Mail are certainly enjoying a good laugh at Bell’s embarrassing behavior today.

In the meantime, we’ll keep our eyes peeled to make sure you have the most up to date news on Bell’s unfair and outrageous tactics–or you could always read about them in the papers.

Take action today, and speak out against these giants and their discriminatory behaviour by signing on to our campaign at https://UnblockCanada.ca, where we’re asking the CRTC and Industry Canada to take bolder steps to bust up these out of control giants so they have no choice but to stop misleading, price-gouging, and abusing Canadians.