No. The recommendation tools of online platforms are not neutral, far from it: they are already biased in a way that responds to the commercial interests of online services. For example, on YouTube, 64% of recommendations go to content that has more than 1 million views, and only 5% of these recommendations highlight content viewed less than 50,000 times. On Spotify, the majors’ catalogs provide 85% of the songs, but 90% of the pieces included in the playlists.
The showcasing of content on platforms is not random, nor is it based solely on consumers’ personal preferences. Moreover, it does not take into account the cultural specificities of the market in which the platforms operate. The regulation aims to ensure that public policy objectives, such as Canadian broadcasting policy, are also taken into account.