Liberals set to introduce new bill against online harms. What to know

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week his government’s upcoming bill will focus on making the internet safer for minors, while not censoring it for the rest of Canadians.

The government is expected to table its long-promised online harms legislation Monday afternoon, which they say is focused on primarily protecting children on the internet and not focused on restricting expression.

In their 2021 election platform, the Liberals promised to introduce legislation within the first 100 days of government to combat “harmful online content” such as terrorist content, child sexual abuse material, the non-consensual distribution of sensitive images and content that incites violence.

This promise also included a pledge to hold social media platforms accountable for what they host, and additions to the Criminal Code and Canadian Human Rights Act tied to online hate.

That timeline didn’t happen, but in the years since there has been a significant amount of study and consultation done on the sensitive, and contentious, proposed legislation.

In December, the government’s expert advisory group on online safety issued an open letter, calling on the fulfillment of the promise to introduce legislation. This panel was named in March 2022 after the government went back to the drawing board on online harms legislation.

“They have listened to these consultations and reversed course on an initial proposal that narrowly focused on content regulation, including removal and blocking, and instead shifted to an approach that focuses on platform business models, product design, and transparency,” the panel wrote in their open letter.

The panel called on the potential law to include five core components: a duty of platforms to protect users from harm assess risks, a special duty to protect children from harm, creation of a regulator to investigation and audit platforms with the power to mandate corrective action and impose fines, mandatory transparency from platforms, and a victim centered forum for recourse on content moderation practices.

In an interview with The Canadian Press just days later, Justice Minister Arif Virani said he does not want to see the bill go down a path that could curb free speech.