Heritage minister says offensive Twitter posts undermining Canadas democracy

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Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault’s department says lawful but offensive Twitter posts are undermining Canada’s democracy.

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“This content steals and damages lives,” wrote staff in a briefing note according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “It intimidates and obscures valuable voices, preventing a truly democratic debate.”

On June 23, Cabinet introduced Bill C-36 â€" an Act to Amend the Criminal Code â€" that threatens Facebook, Twitter and YouTube users suspected of posting content that promotes “detestation or vilification” with house arrest or $70,000 fines.

“Our objective is to ensure more accountability and transparency from online platforms while respecting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” said the June 16 briefing note on Regulation of Social Media Platforms “The mandate of the Department of Canadian Heritage includes the promotion of a greater understanding of human rights.”

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“Social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter are increasingly central to participation in democratic, cultural and public life,” said the briefing note.

“However, social media platforms can also be used to threaten, intimidate, bully and harass people or used to promote racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, misogynist and homophobic views that target communities, put people’s safety at risk and undermine Canada’s social cohesion or democracy.”

The briefing note provided no examples.

On June 23, a Department of Justice backgrounder to Bill C-36 said it “would apply to public communications by individual users on the internet, including on social media, on personal websites and in mass emails,” blog posts, online news sites, “operators of websites that primarily publish their own content” and user comment sections.

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A survey by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority found 62% of Canadians fear federal regulation of the internet will curb lawful speech.

“With the federal government considering legislation that could have far reaching impacts on social media, a healthy majority of Canadians agree with the concept of a law that would require platforms to remove illegal or harmful content,” said the survey report, called Canadians Deserve a Better Internet.

“But their attitudes are tempered by concerns about hampering free expression.”

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