Apple, Google push for judicial oversight in Canada online safety bill

Apple (AAPL.OQ) and Alphabet/Google urged Canadian lawmakers to add judicial oversight and explicit encryption protections to Bill C-22, an online safety bill debated in the House of Commons, arguing the measure could enable secret orders forcing companies to build backdoors into devices and services. Apple, Google and Meta pushed concerns in testimony to the House committee on Public Safety and National Security, warning the bill—similar to laws in the U.K. and Australia—could undermine end-to-end encryption and force product or feature changes (Apple previously removed an encrypted cloud backup feature in the U.K. after a secret order). The dispute raises regulatory risk for large tech platforms and could affect product offerings, compliance costs and investor sentiment if enacted without added safeguards.