Influencing Digital Policy as a Citizen
A new bill would change how platforms moderate content. A regulatory proceeding will determine internet pricing. A municipal decision will affect local broadband options. Digital policy decisions shape the information environment, yet most citizens feel distant from these processes. How can ordinary people influence the policies that govern their digital lives?
Where Digital Policy Gets Made
Federal Government
Parliament passes laws affecting telecommunications, broadcasting, privacy, and digital commerce. Key legislation includes the Telecommunications Act, Broadcasting Act, Privacy Act, PIPEDA, and more recent bills addressing online harms and AI.
The CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) regulates telecommunications and broadcasting, making decisions about internet service, media ownership, and content requirements.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada oversees spectrum allocation, broadband programs, and digital economy policy.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner enforces privacy laws and provides guidance on data protection.
Provincial Government
Provinces regulate some telecommunications aspects, provincial privacy for public bodies, education technology, healthcare data, and other digitally-adjacent areas.
Municipal Government
Municipalities make decisions about rights-of-way, local broadband initiatives, municipal Wi-Fi, and local technology services.
How Citizens Can Participate
Public Consultations
Government regularly consults on digital policy. CRTC proceedings accept public comments. Parliamentary committees hold hearings. Online consultations gather input on proposed policies.
Finding these opportunities requires attention to government announcements, subscribing to email updates, or following advocacy organizations that track proceedings.
Contacting Representatives
MPs and provincial representatives can be contacted about digital issues. Letters, emails, phone calls, and meeting requests communicate constituent concerns. Representatives may be more responsive when constituent interest is clear.
Petitions
Parliamentary petitions (meeting formal requirements) must receive government response. Online petitions (through platforms like Change.org) lack formal status but can demonstrate public interest.
Advocacy Organizations
Organizations like OpenMedia, the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), and others advocate on digital policy issues. Supporting these organizations and participating in their campaigns amplifies individual voices.
Media and Public Attention
Public attention influences policy. Letters to editors, social media campaigns, and media coverage can raise profile of digital issues and pressure decision-makers.
Challenges to Citizen Participation
Complexity: Digital policy involves technical and legal complexity that creates barriers to participation. Understanding proceedings may require expertise most citizens lack.
Resources: Industry has lobbyists, lawyers, and policy staff. Individual citizens have limited time and resources. Participation is not a level playing field.
Timing: Consultation windows may be short. Citizens may learn about proceedings after opportunities to participate have passed.
Impact uncertainty: It is often unclear whether citizen input actually influences outcomes. Participation may feel futile.
Making Participation More Effective
Individual submissions carry more weight when they are specific, informed, and address the actual questions at issue rather than general complaints.
Collective action—coordinated submissions, petitions, organized advocacy—multiplies impact beyond individual voices.
Long-term engagement—building relationships with representatives, sustained attention to issues, consistent participation—produces more influence than episodic involvement.
The Question
If digital policy shapes the information environment, the economy, and civic life, then citizen participation in digital policy is participation in fundamental governance decisions. How can barriers to participation be lowered? What would make consultations more accessible and meaningful? And how can citizens balance the demands of participation against the many other demands on their time?