Canada’s liberal government unveiled draft legislation on Monday to protect the public, particularly children, from online hatred and other dangerous content.
The proposed bill would enhance criminal penalties for propagating hate on social media platforms, with those supporting genocide facing life in jail.
The proposed legislation, bill C-63, would impose stricter reporting requirements for child pornography, as well as the establishment of a new digital safety body to enforce restrictions aimed at firms such as Facebook, X, and Pornhub.
Canadians would be empowered to report harmful content for prompt removal, and complaints about hate speech might be brought with human rights courts, potentially leading to compensation for victims. Social media firms may be obliged to apply parental controls, which limit children’s access to certain content or features.
“A rising collection of research indicates that internet hazards are a significant and growing issue. People are saying and doing things online that we would never condone in the real world,” a senior government source explained.
The new legislation is identical to regulations passed in the EU and the UK last year. Meanwhile, in the United States, the Supreme Court is considering state laws aimed at limiting content moderation on social networking platforms.
Previous versions of the measure were criticized by privacy and civil rights groups for potentially violating free speech. Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre has also called the new version a “attack on freedom of expression.”
According to government data, four out of every ten Canadians are regularly exposed to internet hate, while federal police report a significant increase in reporting of child exploitation over the past decade. Additionally, a recent study cited by Ottawa found that nearly two-thirds of women and girls in Canada experience online abuse or harassment monthly.
