Draft Canada law to force social media to remove harmful content

— Canada on Monday unveiled draft legislation to combat online hate that would force major companies to quickly remove harmful content and boost the penalty for inciting genocide to life in prison.

The Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced the bill with the stated aim of protecting children from online predators.

The bill says major social media companies must quickly remove content that sexually victimizes a child as well as intimate content communicated without consent. In both cases, the content would have to be removed within 24 hours, subject to an oversight and review process.

A company found guilty of contravening the law could be fined a maximum of 6 percent of its gross global revenues, government officials said during a technical briefing.

“There must be consequences for those who violate the rules online … bad actors target our most vulnerable — our children. They spread vile hate and encourage impressionable people to commit violence,” Justice Minister Arif Virani told reporters.

Content providers would have to introduce special protections for children, including parental controls, safe search settings and content warning labels.

The bill covers social media, user-uploaded adult content and live-streaming services but not private and encrypted messaging services.

The bill would also sharply raise the penalties for those found guilty of advocating or promoting genocide. The proposed maximum sentence would be life in prison, up from the five years at present.

Whether all the provisions make it through to the final version is unclear. The bill must be studied by a parliamentary committee and then the upper Senate chamber, both of which can demand changes.