Federal bill aims to strengthen online safety
OTTAWA — The Liberal government plans to create a new digital safety regulator to compel social-media platforms take action against online harms and remove damaging content — including sexually explicit content that victimizes minors and intimate images shared without consent — under penalty of millions in fines.
Justice Minister Arif Virani tabled the long awaited Online Harms Act on Monday, along with a suite of other amendments to the Criminal Code and and Canadian Human Rights Act.
Known as Bill C-63, the legislation ushers in the creation of a “Digital Safety Commission of Canada,” along with a new ombudsperson to advocate for users who have concerns about online safety.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has long promised to better protect Canadians, especially youth, from online harms — including a vow to table legislation within 100 days of his reelection in 2021.
In the years since, his ministers have repeatedly said that developing such legislation was complicated, as it needed to balance protecting freedom of expression with enhancing online safety for children.
The new bill covers the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images, including deepfakes created by artificial intelligence, as well as content used to cyberbully, urge self-harm or incite violence, terrorism or hatred.
It seeks to give the new digital safety commission power to “order removal of content that sexually victimizes a child or revictimizes a survivor,” as well as intimate images shared without an individual’s consent
It says companies, which must generally abide by a “duty to act responsibly,” must remove such material within 24 hours.
Under the new bill, users could file a complaint with the platform itself or to the new regulator.
Government officials say companies would have the chance to evaluate such complaints, but failing to remove the material could make them subject to administrative fines or orders to do so.
Reserving the power to compel platforms to remove only two types of harmful content is a marked departure from the proposal the government released in 2021, based on a consultation document.
It suggested making it a rule for companies to remove any material flagged as harmful within 24 hours.
Privacy experts and other critics roundly blasted that provision as being overly broad. They said it could violate freedom of expression, since companies might be overly cautious and end up removing posts and images that were legitimate to avoid running afoul of the rules.
The Liberals are also amending the Criminal Code to introduce stiffer punishments for existing hate propaganda offences and amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to include online hate speech as a form of discrimination.
Doing so resurrects a section of the act that the former Conservative government of Stephen Harper removed.
Among the advocates who had championed the bill was the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, which has called for more government and police action against a sharp rise in antisemitism since the Israel-Hamas war began.
The bill proposes to stiffen the penalty for someone found guilty of advocating genocide to life imprisonment, up from five years in prison.
Two mothers whose kids died by suicide after being victimized online are urging federal lawmakers to pass the bill.
Carol Todd, whose daughter Amanda posted a video on YouTube detailing her ordeal before she died in 2012, said she wants parties across the political spectrum to communicate with each other to get it passed quickly.
Legislation targeting online sextortion and cyberbullying should have been introduced sooner, she said — “It’s the lives of our kids.”
Seventeen-year-old Rehtaeh Parsons was taken off life support following a suicide attempt in 2013.
Her family said she was harassed both at school and online over an intimate photo taken without her consent.
Her mother, Leah Parsons, said Monday that the legislation had to happen and “these social media platforms need to be accountable for what’s happening on their platforms.”
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has called on Trudeau for weeks to introduce the longawaited bill, pointing to the case of 12-year-old Carson Cleland of Prince George, B.C.
Last October, police said he was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound after his family said he had fallen victim to online sextortion.
In the lead-up to the bill being tabled, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre signalled his opposition to it, saying he believed Trudeau would target online speech.
“This is very important legislation,” government House leader Steven MacKinnon said at a news conference on Monday. “The government has worked on it for a long, long time.”
He said many parents know the dangers posed to children, and he thinks “any responsible government has to act.”