Gen Z, millennials don’t support Trudeau’s internet regulation: poll

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A new Postmedia-Leger poll contains a stark warning for any political party gunning for Gen Z and millennial voters in the next federal election: be wary of a heavy hand in trying to regulate the internet.

The poll, released Monday, finds that less than half of Canadians aged 18 to 39 say they “support the government’s new rules to regulate the web, podcasts, streaming and social media to restrict offensive speech and online harms.” Only 44 per cent say they support the initiatives. The majority either disagree with the policies (39 per cent) or don’t know (16 per cent).

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But the poll finds there are more Gen Z and millennials “strongly” opposed to the Trudeau government’s internet-regulation policies — 19 per cent — than the 14 per cent who are “strongly” in favour.

Leger vice-president Andrew Enns said he’s not surprised that some young people are fired up about the legislation, because their lives are extremely online, and it will likely affect them disproportionately.

“This will be the generation that is probably going to be living with those new rules and changes for the longest period of time,” said Enns. “And this generation tends to recoil a little bit about banning things or restricting things.”

The government has unleashed a batch of legislation designed to tighten the reins on the internet, including an online harms bill that attempts to restrict offensive or hateful speech and a bill that would bring online streaming services under the umbrella of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which is imposing quotas for online Canadian content.

There is that generational divide, where you’ve got that older population that is more leery of the web

Andrew Enns

Enns said previous research shows there’s an age gap on this issue, with young people tending to be skeptical of government attempts to regulate the web and older generations less so.

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“There is that generational divide, where you’ve got that older population that is more leery of the web. There is a little bit of push back (from younger voters) and I suspect a bit of skepticism in terms of looking at these new rules regarding regulating the web and podcasts and things like that,” said Enns.

The poll was conducted May 24-26 via using an online panel method, with a sample size of 938 of Canadians aged 18 to 39 who are eligible to vote. A comparable probability sample would yield a margin of error of no greater than plus or minus 3.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

The issue of internet regulation has proven thorny for the Opposition, as well. A Senate bill that would require age verification for online pornography websites has been making its way through the House of Commons this spring with tentative support from the Conservatives. In February, when Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was asked if he supports efforts to keep pornography away from kids, he answered “yes” and moved on to the next question.

Liberals immediately accused him of favouring a “digital ID,” and claimed Poilievre wanted Canadians to give their private information to “sketchy websites.”

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The Conservatives quickly clarified that they didn’t support any kind of digital ID and were in favour of less heavy-handed measures, like restricting adult websites from advertising to kids.

Since then, the party has steered clear of the issue, with some members of Poilievre’s team admitting that they were concerned that a tougher stance on age verification could alienate younger voters, especially young men, who have been flocking to the party since Poilievre became leader.

The proposed legislation has been controversial, and some advocates worry that the bill will have unintended consequences; for example, putting steamy shows behind an age verification barrier.

“As written, Bill S-210 wouldn’t just force Netflix to potentially scan users’ faces to determine their age before watching (the racy series) Bridgerton, it could stop Canadians from being able to access Netflix and other streaming platforms at all,” said Ryan Polk, a director at Internet Society, a charity devoted to making the internet more open.

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The Trudeau Liberals have been working overtime to try to win back younger voters that polls show have generally deserted the Liberal party en masse, with runaway food and housing costs being a main factor. The government’s budget delivered in April was framed as promoting “intergenerational fairness” by raising capital gains taxes and spending. However, polls taken since then suggest the budget failed to win younger voters back.

National Post

stthomson@postmedia.com

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