2017 is here, and it's clear it will be a make-or-break year for Internet freedom. Around the world, our digital rights are under threat as never before. Let's take a look at some of the big challenges ahead.

In Canada, the federal government will soon be publishing its response to the national security consultation that closed in December. It's abundantly clear that Canadians want the government to repeal Bill C-51 and deliver strong privacy rules to make us safe -- but will the government listen, especially against the backdrop of a full-on RCMP propaganda campaign calling for even more invasive spy powers?

At OpenMedia, we cover a wide range of digital rights issues, and so we've really seen the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly when it comes to policy proposals over the years. And this one's a doozy: Canadian Heritage Minister Melanie Joly is considering adding a new ISP tax to the monthly bills of Canada's Internet subscribers.

This new tax will make Internet access even more expensive, despite the fact that Canadians already pay among the highest prices in the industrialized world for this basic necessity. Indeed, fees are already so high that 44 per cent of low-income households do not have a home Internet connection, leaving vast numbers of Canadians excluded from our digital endowment.

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Internet censorship. Website block lists. Stiff financial penalties for Internet providers who allow their customers to view sites forbidden by the government. This may the stuff of day-to-day life in authoritarian regimes, but it's certainly not the sort of thing you'd expect to see here in Canada.

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"You have used 100% of your monthly data allocation. Additional charges will apply" -- there's probably not an Internet user out there who hasn't grimaced upon receiving a message like this from their telecom provider. Sadly, mean-spirited data caps, accompanied by extortionate overage fees, have long been one of the most reviled features of our broken telecom market.