This paper offers a critical examination of Canadian news guidelines and policies
on user-generated content (UGC) posted on news-related comment sections and
social media.
The outline of how news-related UGC is moderated within Canadian news is achieved
by looking at the online comment policies of major Canadian news organizations like .
the CBC, CityNews (Halifax), CTV News, Glacier Media, Global News, The Globe
and Mail, Narcity Media, Postmedia, QUB (Québecor), and Torstar.The policies highlight how Canadian news organizations have practical strategies
to manage news-related UGC but also call upon positive and negative social
principles, to flag ill practices, foster democracy, and fight against online hate speech
and libel. The analysis shows how guidelines reflect many of the key principles highlighted
in the literature review but make no reference to economic principles that
are emphasized as important in academic and journalist concerns with moderating
news-related UGC.
