With significant attention on the rise of hate and harassment online, questions are being raised about where the federal government’s promises to advance legislative and regulatory changes aimed at removing harmful content stand.
After receiving reams of largely critical feedback and going back to the drawing board with the help of experts over the past few months, sources close to the file told CTVNews.ca the government is still considering how to approach the complex “online safety ” legislation in a way that addresses critics’ concerns while also addressing the state of online discourse.
The pledge originated with the intention of forcing “online communication service providers” such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok to be more accountable and transparent in handling five types of harmful content on their platforms: hate speech, child exploitation , sharing images without consent, incitement to violence and terrorism.
The Liberals’ intention was to ensure that the kinds of behavior that are illegal live are also illegal online, with an emphasis on public content rather than private communication.
“Online platforms are increasingly important for participation in democratic, cultural and public life. However, such platforms can also be used to threaten and intimidate Canadians and to promote views that target communities, put people’s safety at risk and undermine Canada’s social cohesion or democracy,” reads the government’s landing page for this initiative .
“Now, more than ever, online services must be held accountable for addressing harmful content on their platforms and creating a safe online space that protects all Canadians,” he continued.
In addition to seeking expert advice, this summer Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez and senior officials from his department traveled the country holding panel discussions with stakeholders and representatives of minority groups.
Public hearings designed to capture the concerns of Canadians – particularly those in marginalized communities – are slated to continue into the fall, sources said, adding that this continued outreach is intended to help inform the scope of the legislation.
PROMISED DEADLINE PASSED, FOCUS ON GETTING ‘RIGHT’
The Liberals have already gone beyond their election pledge to move to a “balanced and targeted” online harm bill within the first 100 days of their post-2021 election mandate.
Amid this increased attention and significant work remaining before the bill is completed, CTVNews.ca asked when Canadians can expect to see a bill introduced in Parliament, and in an emailed response, Rodriguez’s office did not commit to a time frame, saying that the government’s priority is getting the legislation right.
“The minister is now engaging directly with Canadians across the country on the insights provided by the experts,” said Heritage Minister’s Press Secretary Laura Scaffidi. “Canadians should be able to express themselves freely and openly without fear of harm online… We are committed to getting this right and engaging Canadians in a thorough, open and transparent way every step of the way.”
Despite an unwillingness to put a timetable on the bill’s introduction, sources told CTVNews.ca it is unlikely this fall, with early 2023 appearing the most realistic timeframe.
Sources said the government remains committed to proposing legislation that would give Canadians more tools to address online harm, but there are some factors adding pressure to Rodriguez’s desire to “make things right.”
Given the pushback from opposition parties and some platforms during the government’s push to pass updates to the Broadcasting Act — including accusations of attacking free speech — sources said the Liberals are bracing for an even bigger fight over the bill .
That being said, some considerations have been made to wait until there is more room on the legislative agenda to allow the Liberals to devote more attention to this bill once it is introduced. Rodriguez currently has two pending pieces of legislation; Bill C-11, the revived Broadcasting Act bill, is before the Senate, and Bill C-18, on online news royalties, is before a House committee.
Speaking of recent examples of politicians and journalists facing threats, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said Monday that in addition to engaging law enforcement, “Minister Rodríguez is very eager to present his legislation so that the legislative instruments are also available’
However, sources CTVNews.ca spoke to cautioned that while there are elements of the legislation that will likely help — especially when it comes to platforms taking more responsibility for the content they post — it won’t be the “panacea” for correcting increasingly toxic online discourse. Rather, the upcoming legislation is seen as one piece of a larger puzzle.
For example, an element of the original proposal from the government that is unlikely to change given the Charter and privacy concerns is that it is designed to focus on public content rather than private communications such as text messages or emails. The hate-filled and harassing emails were the central focus of what some journalism advocacy groups believe was a coordinated campaign.
Sources said there was some hope that the recent attention, spurred by more federal political figures from across the political spectrum speaking out, would help galvanize support and allow for a serious conversation about addressing the issue.
Before the government introduces its online harm legislation, here’s what you need to know about what’s happened in the file so far and how it could ultimately shape the bill.
CONCERNS ABOUT THE INITIAL PROPOSAL
Two weeks before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls the 2021 federal election, the government unveiled a “technical discussion paper” and launched a summer-long consultation process on a proposed legislative framework for online harm, promising that responses would inform new laws and regulations.
That proposal includes implementing a 24-hour takedown requirement for content deemed harmful, as well as creating federal “last resort” powers to block online platforms that repeatedly refuse to take down harmful content.
The Liberals’ initial proposal also emerged:
- Persuading platforms to provide data about their algorithms and other systems that search for and flag potentially harmful content and provide a rationale for when actions are taken against flagged posts;
- Obligations for sites to retain content and identifying information for potential future legal action and new options for alerting authorities to potentially illegal content and content of national security concern if an imminent risk of harm is suspected;
- Outlining potential new ways for CSIS and the RCMP to play a role when it comes to combating online threats to national security and child exploitation content; and
- Installing a new system for Canadians to appeal platform decisions about content moderation.
The regime proposed a series of tough new penalties for companies deemed to be repeatedly non-compliant, including fines of up to five percent of a company’s annual global revenue or $25 million, whichever is higher.
To operate and adjudicate this new system, the government has proposed creating a new “Digital Safety Commission of Canada” that would be able to issue binding decisions for platforms to remove harmful content, ordering them to do so when they “get it wrong “. “
During the feedback period in the summer of 2021, the government received an earful from stakeholders who expressed concerns about the proposals by then-Canadian Heritage Minister Stephen Guilbeau, as well as what was described as a “grossly inadequate” consultation process.
From concerns that the proposal does not strike the right balance between tackling online harms and protecting freedom of expression, to the question of why a number of harms are treated as equivalent, experts have called for some significant changes.
Facing concerted pressure from stakeholders the government would ideally like to have on hand as it continues that conversation, after Rodriguez was reappointed heritage minister, he announced plans to go back to the drawing board.
The decision to revise the plan was announced in February, along with the publication of a ‘What We Heard’ report based on the assessment of feedback from the consultation process.
He concluded that while the majority of respondents believed there was a need for the government to take action to combat harmful content online, given the complexity of the problem, the forthcoming legislation needed to be thoughtful in its approach to guard against “unintended consequences .”
Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez announces a new expert advisory group on online safety as the next step in developing legislation to address harmful online content during a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, March 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez announces a new expert advisory group on online safety as the next step in developing legislation to address harmful online content during a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, March 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
This online harm framework is separate from a piece of government legislation brought in at the eleventh hour by the 43rd Parliament.
Called Bill C-36, it focused on amendments to the code and the Canadian Human Rights Act to address hate propaganda, hate crimes and hate speech, but after his death, when the 2021 election was called, the legislation it was not revised by the Liberals.
The bill was mentioned in the Liberals’ latest campaign platform as part of their pledge to “more effectively fight online hate,” so it remains to be seen whether it could be included in the…
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