Online harms act won't ban 'awful but lawful' content online, says justice minister

Justice Minister Arif Virani says the Online Harms Act won't give the federal government the power to determine what is and isn't appropriate content.

The bill, tabled by the Liberal government Monday, includes an amendment to define «hatred» in Canada's Criminal Code. That definition, Virani said, does not include insulting or offensive content, but rather recognized hate speech like calling for genocide.

«People insult groups or people or races or religions all of the time. That's going to continue to be awful but lawful,» Virani told Matt Galloway.

«But when you call for the extermination of a people, you're hitting a hate standard that's already been entrenched by the courts.»

The bill proposes to police online content across seven categories that it deems as harmful. That includes content used to bully a child or encourages a child to harm themselves.

The categories also include hate speech, content that incites violence or terrorism, content that sexualizes children or victims of sexual violence, and sexual content that is posted without consent.

An earlier version of the bill, first introduced in March 2022, has been criticized by the Conservative Party and privacy advocates as being overly broad and potentially damaging to free expression.

Virani says the latest version addresses those concerns.

«What's important is people understanding that what is protected at its core, at its highest, is political speech, which is critical to democracy,» he said.

«What isn't protected is violence and what kids are being subjected to … is violence.»

'They did listen': Geist

University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist gave the bill a B-plus grade, despite early concerns about what it would mean for freedom of expression.

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