Canadian Conservatives to introduce new REFORMED online harms bill designed to safeguard free speech and civil liberties
09/18/2024 / By Laura Harris
The Canadian Conservative Party is set to introduce a new online harms bill designed to counter the Liberal government’s existing legislation that clamps down on free speech.
In February, Justice Minister Arif Virani introduced Bill C-63 or “An Act to enact the Online Harms Act, to amend the Criminal Code, the Canadian Human Rights Act and An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts.”
The legislation aims to expand hate speech prosecutions and enhance protections against online child exploitation. The bill, currently in its second reading, includes plans to create a Digital Safety Commission and other agencies to oversee internet content regulation. (Related: Americans who refuse to sign up for “voluntary” government-issued digital ID may be DENIED health care services.)
However, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner pointed out that the proposed measures have focused on censorship rather than practical solutions to protect Canadians from online criminal behavior. Garner argued that it would enable retroactive prosecutions for hate speech and create a “government-managed surveillance state.”
As a response, Garner announced on Sept. 12 that the Conservative Party would protect Canadians online while safeguarding civil liberties.
“After nine years of Justin Trudeau, the NDP-Liberal coalition has failed to put forward any legislation that will protect Canadians online without infringing upon their civil liberties,” she said. “Canadians are paying the price for this failure.”
“To be clear, this update won’t criminalize something like two people disagreeing about policy online, or other types of expression of opinion that is protected under the Charter, which Liberal Bill C-63 will undermine. Specifically, the provision in our new Conservative legislation will be based on the existing definition of criminal harassment, applying specifically to those who repeatedly send unwanted, harassing content that causes someone to reasonably fear for their safety or well-being,” Garner added.
“The legislation will outline in detail how operators must comply with and operate under this duty of care, including reporting requirements, marketing prohibitions, and other items. Operators who don’t comply with these provisions will face steep fines and a private right of action,” she said.
Furthermore, Garner assured Canadians that the new Conservative legislation would provide strong protections without compromising Charter-protected speech or fostering excessive government oversight. She stressed that the bill will criminalize serious offenses like the non-consensual sharing of intimate photos and the use of artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes.
Bill C-63 receives backlash from high-profile figures
Aside from Garner, high-profile figures, both domestically and abroad, have denounced Bill C-63 as overreaching and authoritarian.
In June, one of Canada’s most prominent and well-known anti-woke psychologists, Jordan Peterson, described the bill as paving the way for “Orwellian Thought Crime.”
“Canadians wake the hell up,” Peterson wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in reply to a post by Virani about his Online Harms Act. “This is your federal Attorney General literally publicizing the fact that he wants to grant a new authority the power to arrest you on the suspicion that you might at some point commit an (undefinable) ‘hate crime.’ This is not only the most authoritarian law ever contemplated in a Western democracy but truly the most authoritarian law conceivable.”
In May, Donald Trump Jr. condemned the Trudeau government’s approach to regulating online content during a free speech event hosted by Rumble, titled “Rumble LIVE: Defending your human right to freedom of expression.”
Additionally, Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of X, called it “insane” that the Canadian government would retroactively target internet speech if the bill becomes law.
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