Any attempts to regulate the internet should steer clear of trying to manage what people have to say, for at best it leads to a quagmire of legal wrangling, while at worst it leads to suppression of free speech by the government, say former chairs of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). “Early efforts in Canada to create federal regulatory frameworks for the Internet, such as Bill C-10 and the ‘online harms’ proposals, were oblivious to this reality and widely panned as a result,” said Konrad von Finckenstein and Peter Menzies, former CRTC chair and vice-chair respectively, in a recent paper on how to address online harms while still protecting free speech. “The defence of a Charter right should not be controversial. And it is our view that the government is misguided in articulating its solution to preventing ‘online harms’ … when the real issue, beyond matters already covered …