Gov announces plans for Digital Safety Commissioner to combat online harms

The federal government intends to create a new Digital Safety Commissioner in its effort to combat online harms in five categories -- terrorist content, hate speech, non-consensual distribution of intimate images, and content that incites violence and sexually exploits children -- and force online platforms to remove illegal content within 24 hours of being flagged. Thursday, the Department of Canadian Heritage published its technical papers on the plan and launched a public consultation on its proposed approach to combat harmful content online, with legislation set to be introduced by Fall 2021. “Canadians are increasingly concerned social media is being used to spread potentially illegal and abusive content such as hate speech and child sexual exploitative content. We need consistent and transparent rules for how online platforms address hate, incitement of violence and harmful online content,” Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, stated in a press release. The bill would target “online communication service providers,” including Facebook, PornHub, TikTok, and other services that “enable users of the service to communicate with other users of the service, over the internet.” Telecom service providers, private communication services, and fitness and travel apps are all excluded. It also proposed to amend the CSIS Act to allow it to quickly seek basic subscriber information to “provide for a more expedient process to ensure timely investigations and greater flexibility than the regime currently provides,” according to a document explaining the plan. Industry specialists and advocates have yet to thoroughly analyze the proposed legislation, but at first glance, according to Matt Hatfield, campaigns director of OpenMedia, there are concerns about expanding the powers of law enforcement and further empowering authorities with user data. Similarly, Byron Holland, president and CEO of the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), said in a statement that although its research shows the majority of citizens are concerned with online harms, “they’re also very concerned that new laws could result in the over-policing of speech, with legitimate, lawful content being taken down inappropriately.” “The government is going to have to work hard to strike a balance here, and make sure the blunt hammer of internet censorship isn’t used when more effective and proportionate responses are available. Internet users will need a simple process to dispute content takedowns that unfairly infringe their rights,” Holland said. The Digital Safety Commissioner’s function, as currently proposed by the government, would be to oversee online content moderation by administering and enforcing obligations; engaging groups disproportionately affected by harmful online content, supporting platforms in reducing harmful content, and creating education and research initiatives. A person subjected to online harm should also have the ability to file a written complaint to the new commissioner concerning an online communication service provider’s non-compliance with its regulatory obligations, according to the technical paper. The commissioner could have inspection powers and can recommend administrative penalties to a tribunal of up to three per cent of a company's global revenues or $10 million, whichever is higher. An indictable offence can lead to a fine of five percent of a service’s gross global revenue or $25 million. If a service provider fails to remove terrorist content or child exploitation content, the commissioner could be granted the authority to apply to the Federal Court for an order requiring relevant telecommunications service providers to block access in whole or in part to the offending communication service. Social media platforms are expected to have their own appeal process if an individual wants to challenge their decisions to remove/leave up harmful content. From there, any decisions could be challenged with the Digital Recourse Council of Canada, which would provide independent and binding decisions which are expected to be made public (without using names) unless they involve national security or privacy issues. The government also recommended the Mandatory Report Act be amended to cover “all types of internet services” for reporting child pornography and to have the RCMP, through the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre (NCECC), release annual reports. -- Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Hannah Daley at hdaley@thewirereport.ca

Gov announces plans for Digital Safety Commissioner to combat online harms

News | 07/29/2021 6:11 pm EDT

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