Note
Authors affiliated with:
Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa ;
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto.
"TSAS is supported as a national strategic initiative funded by SSHRC and Public Safety Canada, along with the following departments of the federal government: Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)".
Résumé
"Since 2007, the Canadian government has repeatedly expressed interest in a terrorism “glorification” offence, responding to internet materials regarded by officials as terrorist propaganda and as promoting “radicalization”. In the wake of the October 2014 attacks, this idea clearly remains on the government’s shortlist of responses. This article addresses the merits of such a criminal offence. It include analyses of: the sociological data concerning radicalization and “radicalization to violence”; existing offences that apply to speech associated with terrorism; comparative experience with glorification crimes; and, the restraints that the Charter would place on any similar Canadian law. The article concludes that a glorification offence would be ill-suited to Canada’s social and legal environment. This is especially true for Charter purposes, given the less restrictive alternative of applying existing terrorism and other criminal offences to hate speech and speech that incites, threatens or facilitates terrorism. There is concern that new glorification offences could have counter-productive practical public safety effects. Instead, it is recommended that modest amendments be made to the existing criminal law allowing the government to respond effectively to speech that is already criminal under existing Canadian terrorism or other criminal offences. Specifically, a carefully constructed means of deleting (or at least “hiding”) the most dangerous forms of already criminal internet speech is favoured."--Includes text from Abstract.
Contenu
Abstract -- Introduction -- Part I. Radicalization and terrorist violence -- A. Patterns of terrorist radicalization -- B. The internet and terrorist radicalization -- C. Discussion -- Part II. Legal response to terrorist radicalization -- A. Existing provisions -- B. Glorification offences -- Part III. Glorification crimes and constitutional protection of free expression -- A. Free speech protection -- B. Attempts to justify a new glorification offence under Section 1 -- C. An alternative proposal -- Conclusion.