Bill to tackle online hate 'absolute priority' for feds, but advocate decries delays
Legislation to tackle online hate remains an "absolute priority," the federal justice minister said Tuesday as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau underscored the need for Canadians to respect each other's freedom of expression.
Arif Virani said the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has led to a sharp rise in hateful online rhetoric, some of it manifesting in violent attacks on religious and community groupsin cities such as Toronto and Montreal.
"That's not what we need in this country, and I think an online hate bill can help to address that," Virani said before the government's weekly cabinet meeting in Ottawa.
Virani's desk is the latest place the long-awaited bill has landed after the Liberals first promised in the 2019 election campaign to bring in legislation to combat hate speech, terrorist content and sexual abuse material.
"I'm deeply disappointed," said Bernie Farber, chair of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, who served on a panel of experts the governmentassembled in spring 2022 to advise on its development.
Farber said there is a "dire need" for Ottawa to better protect Canadians from the hate they see online, which is the preferred means of dissemination for those looking to spread bigoted rhetoric and ideas.
"It's a pretty frustrating situation."
It is no longer a matter of if Canadians can become radicalized by the content they consume online, but when, Farber added.
He cited the recent first-degree murder conviction of Nathaniel Veltman, who killed four members of a Muslim family with a truck in 2021. Court heard he would spend hours a day online consuming far-right material.
In 2019, Trudeau inked into the mandate letter of his then-heritage minister to introduce regulations for social media platforms to compel them to remove all illegal content, ranging from hate speech to child abuse images.
By June 2021, just as the House of Commons was set to break for summer, the Liberals tabled a bill designed to protect Canadians from online hate speech. It would have amended both the Criminal Code and Youth Criminal Justice Act, and allow groups to file hate-speech complaints under the Canadian Human Rights Act.
That bill was never passed; Trudeau promised to table a new version within 100 days of re-forming government in September 2021, but it never happened. Instead, the government assembled another expert panel to provide recommendations for a future bill.
Emily Laidlaw, a professor at the University of Calgary whose research focuses on online harms and served on that panel along with Farber, said the legislation is likely to be "highly controversial," since it touches on free speech and forces lawmakers to choose which online harms warrant restriction.
"It's time to have that discussion," Laidlaw said. "This is extraordinarily complicated legislation."
Both she and Farber say in order to be effective, the bill will have to create a regulator to deal with social media companies and ensure they assume responsibility for hateful rhetoric that appears on their platforms.
That means being having the power to levy fines hefty enough to prod them to take action, Farber said.
Meta and Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, but both companies have policies that address misinformation.
Until recently, the legislation was mainly in the hands of the federal Heritage Department, with support from Justice. Those roles became reversed after a recent cabinet shuffle.
"It will be an important shared responsibility led by Justice Canada with the support of Canadian Heritage. Minister Virani will introduce legislation in due course," Trudeau's office confirmed in a recent statement.
Virani acknowledged Tuesday the importance of tabling a new bill, but warned that regulating online platforms would be more complicated than making changes to criminal law. Hewouldn't say whether the new legislation would be introduced in the House of Commons before the holiday break, likely in mid-December.
"My hope is that it's tabled soon, because I'm hearing that from stakeholders and I'm hearing that from concerned Canadians."
While the legislation is complex, Virani pledged it remains an "absolute priority" for him and other members of cabinet.
Jewish and Muslim organizations alike say it's vital for the Liberals to properly define what constitutes online harm. Prominent Jewish groups have argued such a law is needed to force social-media giants to remove antisemitic comments.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has been in discussions with the government about the legislation. Chief executive Shimon Koffler Fogel said he wants to see "a clear, transparent protocol" to allow platforms to deal with users who spread such rhetoric.
B'nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn called it a consistent problem with social media and said companies are not doing enough to take immediate action.
Fogel cited his organization's repeated attempts to have X, formerly Twitter, suspend the account of Laith Marouf, a consultant who previously worked for the federal government.
In a letter to X owner Elon Musk, the centre accused Marouf of using the platform to make "violent, antisemitic, and hateful remarks."
In a statement to The Canadian Press, Marouf accused the centre of trying to "silence their critics," and pointed to the existence of hate propaganda laws which he said it knows "protect criticism of their supremacist political ideology and colonial project."
The National Council of Canadian Muslims has also reported seeing a sharp uptick in hate-filled comments against Muslims and others of Arabic descent since the war broke out last month.
Stephen Brown, the organization's CEO, said it has had many conversations with those in government about the legislation, saying it must start from the basis of clearly defining "what is considered hateful in Canada."
"We also oppose anything that would prevent legitimate criticism of foreign governments or anything that would prevent legitimate expression of political views."
Brown said the council has seen users face harassment for posting certain messages, such as calling for a ceasefire or expressing support for Palestinians. Some are even finding their accounts suspended, he added.
"It's becoming more increasingly difficult to express support for Palestinians online," he said. "How are the social media platforms handling it?"
Before Tuesday's meeting, Trudeau called the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia in Canada and around the world "really scary," warning that it puts the possibility of a two-state solution in the Middle East at risk.
"People are forgetting a little bit that we're a country that protects the freedom of expression, that protects liberty of conscience, that respects and supports people even when we disagree with them," he said.
"We have to remember that just waving a Palestinian flag is not automatically antisemitism. And someone expressing grief for hostages taken is not an endorsement of dead civilians."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2023.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'oesn't get' the global phenomenom.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Tornadoes collapse buildings and level homes in Nebraska and Iowa
Tornadoes wreaked havoc Friday in the Midwest, causing a building to collapse with dozens of people inside and destroying and damaging hundreds of homes, many around Omaha, Neb.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
It's 30 years since apartheid ended. South Africa's celebrations are set against growing discontent
South Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital Saturday that included a 21-gun salute and the waving of the nation's multicolored flag.
Britney Spears settles long-running legal dispute with estranged father, finally bringing ultimate end to conservatorship
Britney Spears has reached a settlement with her estranged father more than two years after the court-ordered termination of a conservatorship that had given him control of her life, their attorneys said.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
Local Spotlight
DonAir force takes over at Oilers playoff games
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fergus, Ont. man feels nickel-and-dimed for $0.05 property tax bill
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
Twins from Toronto were Canada's top two female finishers at this year's Boston Marathon
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
'I'm committed': Oilers fan won't cut hair until Stanley Cup comes to Edmonton
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
'It's not my father's body!' Wrong man sent home after death on family vacation in Cuba
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
'Once is too many times': Education assistants facing rising violence in classrooms
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
What is capital gains tax? How is it going to affect the economy and the younger generations?
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”