Canada considers banning Fox News after pressure from the LGBT lobby

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) opened a public consultation Wednesday after receiving a complaint from a 2SLGBTQI+ lobby group calling for a ban on Fox News in Canada. The lobby group Egale Canada believes that Fox, and especially programs such as Tucker Carlson Tonight (which is no longer on the air), spread messages of hate and violence against the 2SLGBTQI+ community.

The CRTC's decision follows the release in April of a brief that the lobby group sent to the Canadian regulator. On the CRTC website, interested parties can leave their assessment on this matter until June 2, 2023. The consultation serves to gauge Canadian public opinion following a successful complaint. Canadian government regulators subsequently decide what action to take in response to the proposed initiative.

Egale Canada believes that Fox News' "inflammatory" content, constitutes a clear violation of Canadian broadcast network standards. The lobbyist organization focused more specifically at statements by Tucker Carlson in which the presenter reportedly claimed that "trans people are targeting Christians." For Egale Canada, "Placing trans people in existential opposition to Christianity is an incitement to violence against trans people that is obvious to any viewer."

It is pertinent to recall that the number of hate crimes perpetrated against Christians in Canada has increased significantly in recent years. According to the Catholic News Agency, the number of these crimes increased from 43 in 2020 to 155 in 2021. Carlson's statements came during the month of April, when Audrey Hale perpetrated a mass shooting at Nashville's Covenant Christian School.

"Given the increasing levels of hatred against transgender people around the world and the possibility of segments such as the one recently aired on Fox News, there needs to be a serious Canadian conversation about Fox News broadcasting in Canada," concludes Egale Canada's open letter, which also calls for, at the very least, for the board to financially penalize Fox for the aforementioned content. The last channel to be banned in Canada was RT, because of its strong ties to the Russian government.

Egale Canada promotes ideas such as treating teenage girls as adults, following its line that supports sex change surgeries on minors. It is one of the leading lobbying associations in the country. Fox has not made any public statements on this matter.