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N.S. mass shooting case: media outlets challenge redactions in search warrants

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A lawyer representing eight news media outlets is challenging the decisions of a Nova Scotia provincial court judge who authorized heavy redactions of RCMP search warrants used in the investigation of the mass shooting in April that claimed 22 lives.

Appearing in provincial court in Truro, N.S., David Coles submitted an application Monday for a judicial review of decisions Judge Laurel Halfpenny-MacQuarrie made last month, arguing she had overstepped her jurisdiction.

Coles’ application to Nova Scotia Supreme Court says the lower court judge went too far in authorizing permanent and temporary redactions. The application also states the media have been denied the right to argue against the redactions.

Search warrants are supposed to be made public after they have been executed, with some exceptions, but in this case the Crown has produced documents that are largely blacked out and beyond public scrutiny.

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The application for judicial review also says the judge declined to unseal information based on what Coles described as speculation unsupported by the evidence.

Federal Crown prosecutor Mark Covan argued Monday that Coles’ application should be suspended until the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia issues a decision.

Coles’ application, Covan said, is an attempt to “quash everything that has happened after July 16,” referring to the Halfpenny-MacQuarrie’s earlier decisions about the redactions and the legal process.

“It would be an enormous burden on the court and the Crown … They’re seeking to attack the very backbone of these proceedings.”

Coles argued that waiting for the Supreme Court to decide would cause an unreasonable delay, and he urged the judge not to suspend the current court process.

“If the Supreme Court decides later on that more should be released, then more will be released,” Coles said in an interview after the hearing. “It’s all stuff in the future that doesn’t undo what [the judge] has done.”

Crown attorneys Mark Heerema and Shauna MacDonald have argued that certain information — including the models of guns the killer used — should remain sealed for six months. They say the content pertaining to innocent persons should be sealed permanently.

Halfpenny-MacQuarrie has yet to decide on how long the temporary redactions will remain in place.

The outlets challenging the redactions are The Canadian Press, CBC, CTV News, Global News, The Globe and Mail, Postmedia, the Halifax Examiner and the Saltwire chain in Atlantic Canada.

Coles’ application refers to a prior release of search warrants. Halfpenny-MacQuarrie said the next batch of redacted warrants — six in all — would be released on Sept. 21.

She also confirmed Monday that further legal arguments about the redactions would be heard on Oct. 16.

Some of the victim’s relatives have complained they have not been told enough about what happened to their loved ones or how the RCMP’s actions may have played a role in their deaths. Most of the families are seeking to register a class-action lawsuit against the RCMP.

The RCMP officer who filed most of the search warrants and production orders, Sgt. Angela Hawryluk, has told the court the release of key information could jeopardize the RCMP’s ongoing investigation of Gabriel Wortman’s murderous rampage on April 18-19.

The gunman, who was disguised as a Mountie and was driving a look-alike police cruiser, was fatally shot by an RCMP officer on the morning of April 19 when he stopped at a gas station in Enfield, N.S., about 35 kilometres north of Halifax.

Source:- CBC.ca

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CTV National News: Social media giants sued – CTV News

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CTV National News: Social media giants sued  CTV News

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India’s media – captured and censored

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Across almost every form of media in India – social, broadcast and print – Narendra Modi and the BJP hold sway.

With India amid a national election campaign, its news media is in sharp focus. Until recently it was believed that the sheer diversity of outlets ensured a range of perspectives, but now, India’s mainstream media has largely been co-opted by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Just how did the media in India get to this point and what does it mean for the upcoming elections?

Featuring:

Ravish Kumar – Former Host, NDTV
Shashi Shekhar Vempati – Former CEO, Prasar Bharati
Pramod Raman – Chief Editor, MediaOne
Amy Kazmin – Former South Asia Bureau Chief, Financial Times
Meena Kotwal – Founder, The Mooknayak

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Social media lawsuit launched by Ontario school boards

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Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against multiple social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.

The school boards, including three in the Greater Toronto Area, have launched lawsuits seeking $4.5 billion in damages against Snapchat, TikTok, and Meta, the owner of both Facebook and Instagram, for creating products that they allege negligently interfere with student learning and have caused “widespread disruption to the education system.”

But at an unrelated news conference in Ottawa on Friday, Ford said that he “disagrees” with the legal action and worries it could take the focus away from “the core values of education.”

“Let’s focus on math, reading and writing. That is what we need to do, put all the resources into the kids,” he said. “What are they spending lawyers fees to go after these massive companies that have endless cash to fight this? Let’s focus on the kids, not this other nonsense that they are looking to fight in court.”

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Four separate but similar statements of claim were filed in Ontario’s Superior Court of JusticSocial media lawsuit launched by Ontario school boards pervasive problems such as distraction, social withdrawal, cyberbullying, a rapid escalation of aggression, and mental health challenges,” Colleen Russell-Rawlins, the director of education with the Toronto District School Board, said in a news release issued Thursday.

“It is imperative that we take steps to ensure the well-being of our youth. We are calling for measures to be implemented to mitigate these harms and prioritize the mental health and academic success of our future generation.”

The school boards are represented by Toronto-based law firm Neinstein LLP and the news release states that school boards “will not be responsible for any costs related to the lawsuit unless a successful outcome is reached.”

These lawsuits come as hundreds of school districts in the United States file similar suits.

“A strong education system is the foundation of our society and our community. Social media products and the changes in behaviour, judgement and attention that they cause pose a threat to that system and to the student population our schools serve,” Duncan Embury, the head of litigation at Neinstein LLP, said in the new release.

“We are proud to support our schools and students in this litigation with the goal of holding social media giants accountable and creating meaningful change.”

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