Ban on Twitter on Election Night?

If you live in Canada, and have voted before in a federal election, you know there is a media ban on election night. That is to say the media are literally fined a significant amount if they violate a strict ban on reporting results from out East before ballots in BC are closed.

Elections Canada seems to have an unfounded fear that seeing results of ridings in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia may unduly influence voters to the West, a claim that has been largely refuted. Despite that, even ten years ago, the major media conglomerates bowed to the wishes of the law, and refrained from broadcasting results nationwide as they came in before the ballots were closed.

Fast forward to today. In the era of instant internet video, tweeting, facebook statuses and digital communication, that information could be readily available and posted literally across the country in seconds. What this means is that even the major media giants, such as Canwest, cannot maintain a live-streaming blog of results, they cannot post ongoing information and results until BC closes.

What this also means?

• It will also be illegal for any citizen, journalist or not, to tweet or blog or post something on a Facebook wall about the election results, until all the polls are shut.

If you think you're immune, the same issue happened in 2000, just before the internet explosion of data.  A prominent blogger in Vancouver, Paul Bryan blogged Atlantic results before the polls were closed to his small audience, he was fined $1 000.  He took his case straight up the courts to the Supreme Court, and was defeated there.

Draconian?  Yes.  Are they going to do it?  Well in our minds, how could they.  One look at the #elxn41 hash tag and you can see immediately that thousands of Canadians are updating every hour, posting news, opinions, links and observations on the unfolding election.  When we all go to the polls, you can bet that there will be posting immediately as well.

• Nonetheless, John Enright, who speaks for Elections Canada, says his agency has no choice but to administer the law as written. Citizens are allowed to phone or text friends, or send private e-mails. But posting to a Facebook wall, to a webpage or to Twitter will be considered a violation.
  
  "The legislation is still on the books, so our role as Elections Canada is to administer the legislation that is before us," says Enright. "If there's a breach of the law, Elections Canada is not going to discriminate between the Mothercorp and Joe Smith down the street."

The courts have decided the law won't be looked at prior to May 2nd.

Scary isn't it?  Where do we stand, why hasn't this absurd sheepist law been repealed yet?  And furthermore what does it mean for our democracy when ordinary citizens are going to be muzzled from spreading information?




The Article Here from Montreal Gazette
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/decision-canada/Twitter+Facebook+election+night+posts+draconian/4647769/story.html

An Article from the Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/officials-mull-election-night-twitter-muzzling-rule/article1994365/