The Liberal government is set to make its third attempt at introducing legislation to address “online harms,” similar to a bill tabled in the last Parliament, and another that was tabled in 2021, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault says.
Guilbeault made the comments at a Sept. 24 House of Commons heritage committee meeting, saying the Liberal government has “made a commitment to combat online harms.”
Justice Minister David Lametti first proposed online harms legislation in 2021 with the introduction of Bill C-36, a bill aimed at cracking down on hate speech and hate crimes online.
The bill received widespread criticism from the Opposition Tories, privacy experts, civil liberties groups, and others, who said the bill would undermine free expression, especially its provision requiring online platforms to remove offending content within 24 hours. The bill lapsed when the federal election was called that year….