Critics of the federal government’s new cyberbullying bill say the campaign is exploiting the memories of Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons in order to gain online surveillance powers.
The bill, tabled by Justice Minister Peter MacKay on Wednesday, will prevent the non-consensual distribution of intimate images and will make the act a crime punishable by up to five years in jail.
It will also give police new tools to track online communications to determine the origin or destination of intimate images.
Arthur Schafer, ethics professor at the University of Manitoba, questions the use of Todd and Parson’s death to promote the broad legislation.
“People will sense that this is a government that lacks moral integrity,” he told CTV News.
The bill will render a person liable to imprisonment “based on things they’re used to doing right now,” such as giving out a Netflix password, I.T. security consultant Michael Legary says.
Under the new legislation, a person will be liable to imprisonment for allowing another person to have access to a computer password.
But Dave Fraser, director of social media for the Canadian Safe School Network, told CTV News Channel that he believes the bill is necessary to prevent cyberbullying.
“In terms of preventing situations like Amanda Todd, Rehtaeh Parsons and countless others that we’re seeing across the country, I think we have an obligation to go as far as possible,” Fraser said.
The government, meanwhile, insists none of the updates will allow access to data or subscriber information without prior approval of a judge.
With files from CTV News’ Ben Miljure and The Canadian Press
