Tuesday’s federal election in Canada called for an Internet blackout due to the size of the country. With the first polls in Newfoundland reporting three and a half hours earlier than the last polls in British Columbia, it was necessary to legislate the flow of information across the country.

According to Section 329 of the Canada Elections Act the transmission of election results from any electoral district where polls have closed to districts where the polls are still open is not permitted. Therefore any broadcasts, Internet sites, and satellite had to be very careful not to release any results of the polls that closed on the East Coast before the West Coast polls closed.

However social networking sites were well underway with posting election results hours before the last polls closed out West.

In March 2007, a Charter of Rights case went before the Supreme Court of Canada based on the argument that modern technology made Section 329 of the Canada Elections Act obsolete. The Supreme Court didn’t agree and voted 5 to 4 to uphold section 329 which is claimed did not violate the Charter of Rights but provided informational equality.

Section 329 is a 1938 piece of legislation that has been outstripped by technology. Paul Bryan, who took the case to the Supreme Court last year was backed by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the National Citizens Coalition, and large Canadian media groups including The Canadian Press, CBC, CTV.

Bryan not only lost the case but was convicted and fined $1,000 for his activities during the 2000 federal election. At that time he posted results from the East Coast on his website before the other polls closed.

Keep an eye on the news because social networking has burgeoned over the past couple of years to the point where it is becoming almost a law unto itself. In 2000, when Bryan broke the law, social networking wasn’t even a glimmer in the eye of the Internet. How will Canada managed to enforce section 329 in the face of the power of social networking?