Online Harm

Date: January 20, 2021
Classification: Unclassified
Fully releasable (ATIP)? Yes
Branch / Agency: Canada Centre/Public Safety Canada

Proposed Response:

Background:

The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Supplementary Mandate Letter:

On January 15, 2021, supplementary mandate letters were issued by the Prime Minister to respond to the evolving policy environment. For the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the following objective was stated: 

“Work with the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to take action on combatting hate groups and online hate and harassment, ideologically motivated violent extremism, and terrorist organizations, including to ensure the RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service are equipped to combat this growing threat. You will be supported in this work by the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.”

This objective implicates Public Safety Canada in the ongoing development of new regulations and legislation for social media platforms that address online harms. The original 2019 mandate required Public Safety to address online hate and harassment, and continue to invest in resources to counter ideologically motivated violent extremism and terrorist organizations in partnership with the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. However, Public Safety Canada was not explicitly implicated in the Canadian Heritage objective of developing the regulatory and legislative framework for social media companies.  

Online Harms Regulatory and Legislative Framework:

Through the mandate letter to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Government committed to introducing new regulations for social media platforms, starting with a requirement that all platforms remove illegal content within 24 hours. The online harms in scope could include hate speech, terrorist propaganda, violent content, child sexual exploitation and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images. The Minister of Canadian Heritage’s mandate letter also includes working with Public Safety Canada colleagues on other initiatives related to combatting hate groups and online hate and harassment, ideologically-motivated and religiously-motivated violent extremists (IMVE and RMVE), and their organizations. Given the scope of online harms and interaction with digital industry, the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence (Canada Centre) at Public Safety has played a pivotal role in developing these regulations for social media platforms. This has included coordinating and consolidating feedback from Public Safety and Portfolio colleagues that addresses key considerations and implications for the department and Portfolio.

The United States Capitol Riot Online Nexus

Social media platforms can be used to promote racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, misogynist, and homophobic views that target communities, put people’s safety at risk, and undermine social cohesion and democracy – particularly when fused with anti-authority rhetoric and conspiracy theories. Recent events such as the United States Capitol riot illustrated the role that Canadian digital industry can play. In particular, a CBC news article reported that a Montreal website server hosted ‘TheDonald,’ a forum for IMVE actors, which featured several posts calling for violence in response to the United States election and was used to organize the deadly riots at the United States Capitol. Further, the site remained accessible amid other tech companies removing illegal and harmful content pertaining to the riot.

Originally, the website was a community forum on Reddit called “r/The_Donald,” consisting of approximately 800,000 users. However, the group operators migrated to a standalone website, hosted by the Montreal-based website server, in reaction to Reddit removing r/The_Donald in June 2020.

Christchurch Call to Action

The Government of Canada is a signatory to the Christchurch Call to Eliminate Terrorist & Violent Extremist Content Online (Christchurch Call to Action). The Call is a commitment by Governments and digital industry to coordinate and collaborate in efforts to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online.As a signatory, Canada committed to considering the establishment of regulatory or policy measures to prevent the use of online services to disseminate terrorist and violent extremist content consistent with a free, open and secure internet and international human rights law. Therefore, the development of a regulatory and legislative framework to address online harms meets this commitment under the Christchurch Call to Action.

Contacts:

Prepared by: Hannah Delaney, Policy Analyst, 613-299-3270
Approved by: Jill Wherrett, PACB ADM, 613-939-6435

Date modified: