Cabin Radio was sent a legal warning last week to scrub its website and social media sites of SA国际影视传媒榙efamatorySA国际影视传媒� third-party comments and issue an apology to Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh MLA Steve Norn following coverage of the embattled elected official.
Steven Cooper, lawyer with Cooper Regel, sent the news company a two-page letter on June 24 on behalf of Norn, stating that Cabin Radio has not done enough to address racist comments on articles uploaded to the internet.
SA国际影视传媒淎s a public broadcaster operating under the authority of the CRTC, you have certain obligations related to public pronouncements made by you and vicariously through your website,SA国际影视传媒� Cooper said. SA国际影视传媒淢ore generally, under the law, you have obligations not to allow racist, discriminatory or hate postings to endure on any social media under your control,SA国际影视传媒� Cooper wrote.
Earlier this month, CBC News turned off the comment section associated with its stories because many of the messages have been abusive toward journalists and writers.
NornSA国际影视传媒檚 lawyer alluded to this move in his letter.
SA国际影视传媒淭his is an appropriate measure to ensure that unlawful, defamatory, and other undesirable postings are not permitted to exist on the part of the internet under your control,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
Cooper alleges that Norn, as an elected person of Indigenous ethnicity, has been treated unfairly and in a discriminatory fashion in Cabin RadioSA国际影视传媒檚 media coverage.
SA国际影视传媒淲e are of the view that our client, as an Indigenous public figure, is being treated differently than were he non-indigenous,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淩acially generated pejorative statements are being permitted to be generated by members of the public either under their own name, anonymously or by the use of pseudonyms.SA国际影视传媒�
One warning
According to the letter, Norn directed Cooper to issue the news company SA国际影视传媒渙ne warningSA国际影视传媒� to remove racist content from the website or other social media SA国际影视传媒渨hether explicitly or implicitly, derogatory against our client, defamatory or otherwise prohibited by law.
SA国际影视传媒淢oving forward you must either not permit comments on your postings or immediately remove offensive comments by third parties,SA国际影视传媒� Cooper said.
Norn is also calling for the radio station to apologize to him SA国际影视传媒渄istributed through media as will be discussed between our office and either your office or through your counsel as you see fit.SA国际影视传媒�
The letter ends with Cooper citing relevant aspects of the Defamation Act of the NWT and warning the radio station to SA国际影视传媒済overn yourself accordingly.SA国际影视传媒�
Otherwise Cooper may follow up with a lawsuit against the company and anyone else Norn feels is involved.
SA国际影视传媒淪hould such legal proceedings be necessary, they will be commenced without further notice to you except as required by law,SA国际影视传媒� Cooper said.
Ollie Williams, head of programming and news with Cabin Radio, said on Tuesday that he welcomed the letter and continued feedback and that his media company has sought clarification on what the specific issues are.
SA国际影视传媒淗is legal team is welcome to send a letter to raise concerns about comments and we have written back to seek the precise concerns that they have,SA国际影视传媒� Williams said, adding the company will address those issues when it hears back again.
Williams said it isnSA国际影视传媒檛 uncommon to receive complaints about content displayed, but it likely isnSA国际影视传媒檛 different from the challenges other media companies face when monitoring news articles online.
He said Cabin Radio does its best to catch any and all offensive comments that may be hurtful or offensive and uses tools on Facebook and other means to help catch it as well.
SA国际影视传媒淏ut I donSA国际影视传媒檛 think Cabin is special in that regard and we have an obligation to look at that,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淭hey appear to have specific comments in mind and, at the moment, we donSA国际影视传媒檛 know what they have in mind.SA国际影视传媒�
