The federal government will today introduce the long-awaited Online Harms Bill, after last attempts to tackle online hate failed when the 2021 federal election was announced.
The text of the bill has not yet been released, but its 46-word title suggests it will include changes to the Criminal Code, the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Canadian Human Rights Act. Law to report Mandating online child pornography.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that the bill aims to protect children from “hate, violence, bullying and being exposed to and influenced by horrific things online.”
What happened to the law in 2021?
In June 2023, the federal government introduced Bill C-36 to crack down on hate propaganda, hate crimes and hate speech.
David Lametti, then justice minister, said the bill would “target the most egregious and obvious forms of hate speech that can lead to discrimination and violence”.
Bill C-36 would allow individuals or groups to lodge hate speech complaints with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. It also includes measures aimed at preventing abuse of the process.
Bill C-36 states that the requirement that online platforms remove content flagged as harmful within 24 hours would encourage companies to take an overly cautious approach, resulting in the suppression of free speech. It has been heavily criticized by privacy experts and civil rights groups for its lack of connectivity.
Emily Laidlaw, a law professor at the University of Calgary who co-chaired the government’s advisory group on the bill, said she hopes the bill will waive the removal deadline and get closer.
“When it comes to issues of terrorist propaganda and hate propaganda, it’s very difficult to assess content on the fringes,” she told CBC News. “That administration in 2021 would have encouraged excessive removal of anything that had even the slightest whiff of political controversy.”
What happened after Bill C-36?
When the 2021 federal elections were announced, C-36 died without being debated in committee.The Liberal Party’s election platform overturned that defeat with a promise Introducing new online harm laws Within 100 days after re-election.
Instead of meeting its self-imposed deadline, the Liberal government waited until March 2022 to announce the creation of an expert advisory group “as the next step in legislation to tackle harmful online content.”
The organization’s mission was to “provide advice on legislative and regulatory frameworks that best address harmful content online.”
At the end of 2023, the government still had not fulfilled its 2021 promise to introduce new legislation, leaving members of the advisory committee increasingly frustrated.
In November they An open letter has been published He called on the government to table a new bill so that its merits could be debated in parliament.
“A lack of governance puts Canadian children at greater risk online than many children in the democratic world,” the advisory group and other experts warned in the letter.
What do experts want from the bill?
According to the open letter, advisory committee members want the bill to include five key elements:
- A requirement that digital platforms conduct risk assessments of products used by Canadians and “act responsibly, including upholding fundamental rights” to protect users from harm.
- A special duty to protect children from harm.
- An online harms regulator with the power to investigate and audit digital platforms, impose fines and prescribe corrective actions.
- A provision that requires “a means to audit and verify” that digital platforms are meeting their obligations under the Act by sharing data with researchers.
- An online forum for victims of platforms’ content moderation practices.
Owen Charters, president and CEO of BGC Canada (formerly Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada), said the new bill should focus on children and accountability.
“What we’re primarily seeing are real harms and problems that are happening to young people,” Charters told CBC News. “This bill is a bill that really needs to take that into consideration and really hold corporations accountable for things they’ve been saying for a long time that it’s not their responsibility.”
Charters said that even though the new law does not require reported content to be removed within 24 hours, it should require companies to identify harmful content and remove it where possible. Ta.
What provisions will the new bill include?
We won’t know the full story until the bill is introduced in the House this week. CBC News reported Monday that the bill would include a new regulator separate from the CRTC to hold tech giants accountable for harmful content.
A spokesperson for the prime minister’s office told CBC News the bill would focus on protecting children, although she did not provide further details.
Mr Laidlaw said it was hoped the government would reduce its reliance on companies to quickly remove hateful content and work to stop it from getting there in the first place.
“The main point that the whole committee agreed on was that the law should be built around the idea of a duty to act responsibly… that we need to reduce the risk of harm,” she said. Stated.
What are the opposition parties saying about this bill?
Conservative Leader Pierre Poièvre said last week that Trudeau should not decide what constitutes online hate speech, predicting the bill would be an “attack on freedom of expression.”
“When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the word ‘hate speech,’ what does he mean? He means speech that he hates,” Poilievre said. “You could think he would ban them all.”
Poiivre also explained his opposition to the upcoming bill in very personal terms, saying Trudeau is not the leader to legislate on this issue.
Conservative leader Pierre Poièvre has taken aim at the prime minister and the government’s plans to combat online hate. Poilievre launched a very personal attack on his political opponents, noting that he has used blackface in the past. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fired back, claiming Poilievre’s only plan was to sow division.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Wednesday his party supports a focused online harms bill that protects children.
“My focus is on saving children’s lives, keeping them safe and protecting them,” Singh said. “That’s my only concern. I don’t see how anyone could object to something like that.”
