Harmful by Design? AI, Big Tech, and the Limits of “Free Rein”
Are you a curious thinker who values dialogue? Are there questions about digital technology where you’re trying to think through the pros and cons? Come chat with us!
This February 25, we’ll kick off our latest live community conversation series––Media Riff-Raff where we riff on ideas, question assumptions, and reason radically about ways of making our digital lives better.
We’ll kick off the session with a short expert riff unpacking incidents like Grok AI generating sexual deepfakes, why decades-old privacy laws aren’t built for AI-era harms, and how Canada is struggling to respond as online harms and AI regulations remain stalled. And we’ll invite you to share your thoughts, experiences, and core principles that are important to you with us and each other as Canada contemplates next steps.
Want a space for unfinished thoughts, curiosity, and collective sense-making? Join us on February 25, 2026 to demystify the latest tech policy trends.
This campaign is hosted by OpenMedia. We will protect your privacy, and keep you informed about this campaign and others. Find OpenMedia's privacy policy here.
Session details
📅 Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2026
⏰ Time: 21:00 EST/ 18:00 PST
⏳ Duration: 1 hour
*Meeting links and interactive tools will be used during the session. All URLs and usage guidelines will be shared in advance via email.
Agenda
- Expert Riff (10 minutes) – Expert speaker will give an overview of the latest news, trends, or policy developments relevant to our session’s topic.
- Moderated Q&A (15 minutes) – During the riff, audience questions will be gathered in an open platform where you can vote for those you’d most like to see answered. Our moderator will ask the top-voted questions submitted through interactive Q&A tool during the Expert Riff, and follow up with additional live audience questions if time allows.
- Small Group Riffing (20 minutes) – Participants will be split into small groups to riff on the ideas discussed, question underlying assumptions, reason radically about what could work, and identify core values, next steps, and possible solutions.
- Group Regroup & Synthesis (10 minutes) – Appointed notetaker(s) and spokesperson(s) from each small group to share key insights, tensions, or ideas.
- Wrap-Up (5 minutes) – Closing reflections, next steps, and any calls to action.
February Featured speakers and moderators
Expert speaker
- Matt Hatfield (Executive Director, OpenMedia) will join us for a brief expert riff to unpack recent incidents, such as Grok AI generating non-consensual sexual content, and to show how big tech continues to operate with limited oversight. He will provide context on how the Canadian government is responding using decades-old privacy laws, even as online harms and AI regulations remain stalled. At the same time, debates around social media bans for children and age verification are intensifying. How can we build a future that defends our rights while making the Internet a safer place? His insights will set the stage for our broader conversation.
Moderator
- Jenna Fung (Senior Campaigner, OpenMedia) will moderate the session, guiding the conversation to address urgent questions such as: What are we truly trying to protect with online harms legislation? How should policy evolve to reflect the realities of AI-powered platforms? Most importantly, she will ensure a welcoming and safe space for sharing expertise, ideas, and opinions.
Youth facilitator
- Rana Sarhan (JD Law candidate, University of Ottawa) will bring our lived experiences to life by facilitating one of the small group discussions. Her facilitation will encourage fresh perspectives and foster conversations that draw on the ideas and insights of multiple generations within our community.
What to expect from the session?
- Understand how harmful content is playing out in Canada.
- Question major regulatory gaps in privacy, online harms and AI.
- Walk away with next steps and ideas that can defend our privacy, rights and freedoms.
Prepare for the session
- Think about the topic: Bring your questions, experiences, and perspectives about the session theme. Reflect on assumptions, challenges, and possibilities before joining the session.
- Be ready to engage: Be prepared to listen, share, and build on others’ ideas. Participate actively in discussions and small group riffs.
- Bring an open mind: Expect messy thinking, differing opinions, and bold ideas. Embrace uncertainty for collective sense-making, and be kind and respectful towards other participants.
