Podcasts
CFE Virtual Forum Series: Platforms of Distortion – Can They Be Fixed?
Jun 30, 2020
Digital platforms are perfect delivery systems for gossip and entertainment. Unfortunately they now distribute most of our news.
CFE Virtual Forum Series: Challenges facing “smart city” projects in Canada: A conversation with Sheldon Levy
Jun 23, 2020
Google-affiliate Sidewalk Labs proposals for a “smart city” community on Toronto’s waterfront has sparked utopian dreams and dystopian fears.
CFE Virtual Forum Series: Can Journalism Be Saved?
Jun 17, 2020
Over the past two decades, we have witnessed the economic devastation of institutional journalism that creates new content through original reporting and research.
CFE Virtual Forum Series: Fighting Anti-Semitism or Silencing Critics of Israel?
Jun 10, 2020
Around the world, governments are being encouraged to adopt a definition of anti-Semitism developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Association, with its controversial list of examples.
CFE Virtual Forum Series: Is It Time to Re-examine Limits on Workplace Free Expression?
Jun 2, 2020
Constitutional protection for free expression does not extend to the workplace. To the contrary, most employees face many restrictions on their free expression, which only seem to be expanding in the era of social media.
CFE Virtual Forum Series: Has Our Fear of Offending Gone Too Far?
May 28, 2020
How has the treatment of conflicting views changed in recent years? What does it mean for democratic discussion and practice?
CFE Virtual Forum Series: Who is ‘Free’ to Speak of “Genocide”?
May 20, 2020
When the The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was published, the use of this term “genocide” triggered academic controversy, media frenzy, and strong reactions across Indian country and settler society.
CFE Virtual Forum Series: The Smart City in a Digital World
May 13, 2020
Many claims have been made about both the wondrous future smart cities can provide and the serious threats they pose. Watch our expert panel in a lively discussion of vital questions.
CFE Virtual Forum Series: Pandemics and Civil Liberties
May 6, 2020
The coronavirus poses a threat to our individual and collective future. As governments attempt to deal with the pandemic, they face apparent trade-offs between collective wellbeing and individual human rights and civil liberties.
Can social media hate, lies, and harassment be regulated? How?
Feb 4, 2020
The wonderful potential of social media has a dangerous and damaging dark side directed disproportionately to women and marginalized people. Solutions seem elusive given social media’s anonymity, the permanence of its record, and the capacity of cyberabuse to go viral.
Is Privacy Possible in the proposed Sidewalk Toronto or any “Smart City”?
Jan 22, 2020
Google-affiliate Sidewalk Labs is selling a vision of a “smart city” future for a section of Toronto’s port lands.
Can your face be your undoing: The perils of facial recognition
Dec 3, 2019
What does consent look like, in an era of facial recognition? What rules need to be in place to keep us safe? Can it ever be used 'responsibly'?
How is the public to know? When regulators lose sight of their public role
Nov 21, 2019
Are Canadian regulatory agencies allowing themselves to be captured by those they regulate – Health Canada by drug companies, Transport Canada by the airlines and railways?
Defending Alberta – at What Cost?
Sep 10, 2019
Premier Kenney’s promised assault on critics of the Alberta oil and gas industry has a disturbing resonance with the actions of right-wing populist governments around the world.
Government Funding of Journalism
May 9, 2019
Can freedom of the press survive government funding of journalism?
Learning When Not To Shut Up
Apr 17, 2019
What does freedom of expression look like for Canadian kids? Disturbingly, it’s not very clear.
Free Expression and National Interests: The Case of China
Apr 11, 2019
As U.S. cultural influence slips, China is ramping up its use of cultural, educational and diplomatic initiatives to influence and control expression and its image in Canada and elsewhere.
Defunding Difference and Dissent on Campus: Why Should Canadians Care?
Feb 26, 2019
Ontario Premier Ford claims to be a champion of free speech but is undermining the ability of students to be heard.
On Toronto’s Waterfront: Whose Money, Land and Power?
Feb 7, 2019
Who determines what happens on Toronto's waterfront? How can waterfront development be inclusive and democratic?
Whose Data and Whose City?
Jan 24, 2019
The deal between Google-affiliate Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto for a ‘smart city’ district on waterfront lands raises serious public issues about who will govern the massive amount of data
Cultural Appropriation
Nov 20, 2018
Cultural appropriation has been described both as theft of traditional knowledge, intellectual property, cultural expressions or artifacts, and as an inevitable part of the artistic process.
Police Surveillance and Civil Liberties
Oct 24, 2018
The growing number of police technologies may serve legitimate police purposes but raise serious questions about civil liberties and privacy.
Countering “Hate Speech”
Oct 18, 2018
Canadians and Canadian universities are struggling with the rise of hate and hateful speech. Demands for censorship are growing. But do tougher laws and university regulations against “hate speech” work?
The Future of Investigative Journalism is Here
Oct 3, 2018
A new model for investigative reporting is emerging in Canada with a unique mandate: replace journalistic competition with collaboration.
Privilege and Power
Sep 19, 2018
How does talk of "privilege" both illuminate and obscure our society's most basic concentrations of power?
The Censorship of Art
Sep 6, 2018
Throughout history, art has been censored for challenging standards of decency, propriety and good taste. That history of censorship continues in Canada today.
CFE Anti-SLAPP legislation workshop
Jun 13, 2018
Presentation by Peter Jacobsen, one of Canada’s top media and defamation lawyers. Ontario Anti-SLAPP legislation ("Protection of
WARNING! How the Secrets of Body Care and Cleaning Products Impact You Health
May 7, 2018
Chemicals in personal care and cleaning products you use regularly have been linked to fertility problems, birth defects, cancer, asthma and respiratory disorders, and hormone disruption.
Are Arts Funders Starting to Define the Art?
Apr 23, 2018
Critics have charged that arts funders in Canada have begun imposing bureaucratic rules that compromise artistic freedom. Join four prominent experts who will explore this issue in a lively discus
Battling Secrecy
Nov 27, 2017
Ken Rubin will share his experiences and expertise in this talk – bringing to life with examples of what access to information can do, what barriers journalists and the public face, and how to over
White License, Free Expression & Death Threats: The Challenges of Confronting Racism
Oct 12, 2017
When Johnny Eric Williams used controversial racially-charged language on social media to draw attention to systemic racism, he faced death threats and was suspended by Trinity College.
You Can’t Say That! – Teachers’ Rights to Free Expression
May 24, 2017
While free expression is a Charter right, teachers face serious limitations on what they can do and say in school and outside.
You’re being watched: How we can expose the watchers and protect our rights
Apr 19, 2017
Edward Snowden’s documents are a gold mine of information about how we are being watched. Light will look at privacy, the role of telecommunications providers, key surveillance programs and introduce the Snowden Archive-in-a-Box
Hate, Trolls and Freedom of Expression Online: What to do?
Apr 4, 2017
The surge in both online abuse demands we reconsider the thorny question of how democratic societies deal with abusive discourse while preserving the right to free expression.
Don’t Shoot the Messenger! The Importance of Whistleblowers in the Public and Corporate Worlds
Mar 29, 2017
Whistleblowers typically pay a huge price for their openness and honesty. Why is that? What can be done to protect them and the public interest.
All Governments Lie: Film & Discussion
Mar 23, 2017
Award-winning Canadian filmmaker, Peter Raymont, the film’s producer, will discuss the making of the documentary and the issues it raises.
Journalists, Free Expression & Mexico's War on Drugs
Mar 9, 2017
An inside look at what’s happening to journalists and free expression in Mexico, which, since 2006, has become one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists.
Should charities have the same free expression rights as corporations?
Jan 25, 2017
An expert panel discusses the restrictions on charities, what it means for citizens' free speech and democracy, and what should be done.
Is This the End of the Web as We Know It? How Facebook and Other Large Companies are Closing the Open Web
Nov 17, 2016
Corporate control, and the "tyranny of the popular." Fake news, filter bubbles, and apps as "walled gardens." Have we lost a free and democratic internet?
Seeing Cuba from Behind the Tourist Curtain: An Evening with Filmmaker Enrique Colina
Nov 15, 2016
Enrique Colina is an eminent Cuban filmmaker, director and film critic who will share his reflections on Cuba through conversation and film clips.
Is There a "Rape Culture" in Canada? A Critical Conversation
Nov 9, 2016
"Rape culture” has become a key concept as Canadians try to understand and effectively address sexual assault and sexual violence.
Making Criticism a Crime: Criminal Libel and Free Speech
Nov 1, 2016
Lisa Taylor will reveal new research that shows a resurgence of criminal libel prosecutions for criticism of the police and others in power or authority.
Is Fear of Terrorism jeopardizing your rights? Bill C-51 and National Security
Oct 13, 2016
The federal government is asking Canadians how far they want to go in sacrificing rights and freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism. What is at stake for you, your family and friends, and demo
Why the Secrecy? Police Conduct and the Public’s Right to Know
Sep 22, 2016
Should reports of investigations of police behaviour be made public? How should the competing interests in transparency, accountability, privacy and confidentiality be dealt with?
Can Medical Science Be Trusted if its Authors are Ghosts?
Mar 17, 2016
Much of the apparently scientific literature on drug safety and effectiveness is ghost-written by the pharmaceutical industry, but published under the names of eminent academic researchers. David H
How to Protect Your Privacy in the Digital World
Mar 15, 2016
With a pre-recorded cameo appearance by Edward Snowden.
Whose Pain Goes Viral? Economies of Empathy After Paris 2015
Feb 24, 2016
In this illustrated talk Len Findlay will examine the historical interplay of fame and infamy, information and authority, to help frame the current notion of “going viral” and how suffering overpow
Is it time for journalists to abandon the ideal of neutrality?
Feb 8, 2016
Traditionally journalists have been expected to be neutral, non-partisan, and dispassionate in relation to the stories they cover. But is that possible? Does it serve the public interest?
What will Bill C-51 mean for freedom of expression and civil liberties in Canada?
Feb 2, 2016
Two distinguished Canadian experts will discuss what C-51 will mean for our freedom of expression and civilities.
Our State Is Watching Us: Mass surveillance and free expression in Canada after Snowden
Mar 10, 2015
Andrew Clement will provide an overview of the main state surveillance programs revealed through Snowden's leaks, particularly as they affect Canadians, and highlight the various threats they pose