Toronto: Civil liberties groups, Booker Prize-winning Canadian author Margaret Atwood and Tesla founder Elon Musk are among those who have come out against the “draconian” so-called Online Harms Bill introduced by the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The bill was introduced before the House of Commons late last month but has gained national attention after celebrated author Margaret Atwood described it as “Orwellian” in a post on X recently. “The possibilities for revenge false accusations + thoughtcrime stuff are sooo inviting! Trudeau’s Orwellian online harms bill,” the two-time Booker Prize winner posted. She was referring to British author George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four where the autocratic regime considers any idea outside its ideology as a thoughtcrime.
That view appeared to be shared by Tesla founder and executive chair of X Elon Musk, who posted, in response to an article on the bill, “This is insane.”
Canada’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General Arif Virani, an Indo-Canadian, who is shepherding the bill through parliament, attempted to defend it on Tuesday. During an event in Toronto, he said in French, “It includes expressions of detestation and vilification. It does not include insults, offensive comments, or jokes that are not very polite,” according to the outlet CBC News.
The government’s position has not impressed groups like the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) which has described some of the bill’s provisions as “draconian”. In a release after the bill was tabled, CCLA’s executive director and general counsel Noa Mendelsohn Aviv said its “initial assessment reveals that the bill includes overbroad violations of expressive freedom, privacy, protest rights, and liberty”.
{{/usCountry}}The government’s position has not impressed groups like the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) which has described some of the bill’s provisions as “draconian”. In a release after the bill was tabled, CCLA’s executive director and general counsel Noa Mendelsohn Aviv said its “initial assessment reveals that the bill includes overbroad violations of expressive freedom, privacy, protest rights, and liberty”.
{{/usCountry}}“The broad criminal prohibitions on speech in the bill risk stifling public discourse and criminalising political activism,” he noted, adding, “The bill imposes draconian penalties for certain types of expression, including life imprisonment for a very broad and vaguely defined offence of ‘incitement to genocide’, and five years of jail time for other broadly defined speech acts. This not only chills free speech but also undermines the principles of proportionality and fairness in our legal system.”
The Canadian Constitution Foundation stated that the bill will “significantly hamper constitutionally-protected expression”.
In a post on its website, it added, “The mere threat of human rights complaints and fines for Canadians and social media companies will chill large amounts of otherwise protected speech.”
The government has argued that the proposed legislation will “create stronger protections for kids online and better safeguard everyone in Canada from online hate” and “sets out a new vision for safer and more inclusive participation online.”