Justice Minister says feds are looking to reintroduce online censorship bill

Liberal Justice Minister Sean Fraser says that the federal government is interested in reintroducing the controversial Online Harms Act.

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Liberal Justice Minister Sean Fraser says that the federal government is interested in reintroducing the controversial Online Harms Act.

In an interview with the Canadian Press, Fraser said that the government would consider the merits of reintroducing the Online Harms Act over the summer, deciding to either table the same bill or a new bill with different language.

Fraser said that the government would be focusing on addressing harmful online behaviour, including child exploitation and so-called “deepfakes.”

The justice minister also said that the government would address artificial intelligence, seeking to regulate away the negative effects produced by the new technology.

“We will have that in mind as we revisit the specifics of online harms legislation,” said Fraser. “The world changes and governments would be remiss if they didn't recognize that policy needs to shift.”

The Liberals under former prime minister Justin Trudeau attempted to introduce and pass the Online Harms Act during the 43rd Parliament, but it was killed on the order paper as an election was called.

A similar bill was then re-introduced by the Liberal government in the 44th Parliament by then-justice minister Arif Virani, making it to second reading before the bill was again killed on the order paper for an election call.

The bill would have established a Digital Safety Commission to regulate tech platforms, protect children from sexual crimes and harms, while also making controversial amendments to the Criminal Code and Canadian Human Rights Act.

Civil liberty groups panned the bill as an intrusion on the rights and freedoms of Canadians with harsh and draconian penalties for violating the proposed provisions of the Criminal Code and Canadian Human Rights Act.

The bill was split into two pieces of legislation before Parliament was dissolved, separating controversial amendments to the Criminal Code and human rights legislation from the establishment of a Digital Safety Commission.

Fraser said that the government has to consider whether or not they will table the legislation as one bill or as two, as had been done in the last Parliament.

“That is precisely the kind of thing that I want to have an opportunity to discuss with stakeholders, to ensure we're moving forward in a way that will create a broad base of public support,” said Fraser.

He added that the government could “modify existing versions that we may have on the shelf from the previous Parliament as may be needed, or to accept the form in which we had the legislation.”

In response, the Conservative Party tabled their own private member’s bill to combat online harms with the goal of retaining respect for freedom of expression on the internet.

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner introduced the Promotion of Safety in the Digital Age Act, which she hopes the Liberals will support in lieu of their own legislation to curtail online harms.

“It proposes a tightly scoped legislated duty of care for online operators as it pertains to children’s online safety, and strengthens mandatory reporting requirements for online child sexual abuse material by internet providers,” Rempel Garner said.

“So to Mark [Carney], Evan [Solomon], Steven [Guilbeault] and Sean [Fraser] - my bill allows everyone to win, and solves a big set of problems for your government while providing long overdue and urgently needed protections for kids. It is a non-partisan plea to your government to decouple controversial measures that would chill free speech in Canada.”