'Ground is shifting' for social media giants, says federal justice minister pushing Online Harms Act

Too many young people are dying because of crimes mediated by online platforms, says federal Justice Minister Arif Virani, and he believes his Online Harms Act — introduced in Parliament in February — can help put it to a stop.

One of those people was Prince Edward Islander Harry Burke, who died by suicide a year ago this month during a sextortion attempt. The 17-year-old's story was brought up in the P.E.I. legislature last month as MLAs voted to have the day of his death marked as Cyberbullying Awareness Day.

«Keeping people safe online, kids like Harry, is long overdue,» said Virani.

«That's a needless death. It never needed to happen. The same goes for Amanda Todd, Rehtaeh Parsons, and the list is long, and unfortunately it's growing.»

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection says every day it receives about 10 reports concerning sextortion, where young people are extorted for money after sharing intimate images. There is no way of knowing how many cases there actually are in Canada, or how many of them end tragically.

In a majority of these cases, as in Burke's, teens are identified as potential targets and contacted through social media by people pretending to be someone they are not.

«What the platforms need to realize is that people will no longer tolerate it. I certainly will no longer tolerate it as minister of justice and father of two youngsters. Neither will Canadian parents,» said Virani.

«I think social media giants are seeing that the ground is shifting, particularly among western democratic nations.»

Who is responsible for content?

The act, currently awaiting second reading, would make social media companies explicitly responsible for designing products so that they are safe for young people to use.

How companies