Will the online harms bill make platforms safer? Canadians split in poll

Fewer than half of Canadians believe the federal government’s plan to regulate social media sites will make platforms safer, a new survey suggests.

Polling firm Leger recently asked Canadians about the Liberal government’s proposed Online Harms Act, which contains a suite of measures meant to make social media platforms safer, particularly for children.

Half of respondents said they are wary of the government’s ability to protect free speech, and a majority said they support the controversial proposal to introduce stiffer sentences for hate speech crimes.

Introduced by Justice Minister Arif Virani, the proposed legislation would create a new digital safety commission to regulate social media companies and establish an ombudsperson to hear complaints from Canadians. The law would also require companies to create safety plans to mitigate exposure to harmful content.

The bill targets seven types of online content it defines as harmful, ranging from terrorist material to content that encourages a minor to commit self-harm.

The legislation outlines that platforms will have 24 hours to remove sexual content, like intimate images shared without consent and child sex abuse images, once it is flagged.

The regulator would have the power to levy millions of dollars worth of fines against platforms that don’t comply with the rules.

Leger surveyed 1,527 Canadians about the proposed measures from March 8 to 10. Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they are not considered truly random samples.

Nearly 70 per cent of respondents said they support the government’s overall plan to regulate online content, while 25 per cent said they disagreed with the move.

But only 41 per cent of respondents said they believe the legislation