That Canada has taken a decisive step in its fight
against online hate.
The countries unveiled a new legislation to protect citizens from
harmful content.
As the government sees it,
The bill, introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government aims
to safeguard children from online predators in the proposed law,
will need major social media companies to swiftly remove content
that sexually victimizes children or shares intimate material without consent.
This removal will need to take place within 24 hours
and it will be subject to oversight and review.
The bill will also sharply raise the penalties for those
who are guilty of advocating genocide.
The maximum sentence under the bill will be life imprisonment.
The justice minister, Arif Virani,
highlighted the importance of holding offenders accountable,
especially those who target children.
The minister has said, and I quote,
there must be consequences for those who violate the rules
online and bad actors target our most vulnerable,
that is, our children. They encourage impressionable people to commit
violence.
The Canadian legislation will enforce penalties of up to 6%
of a company's global revenues for violation of these rules.
In addition to content removal,
the bill also mandates that content providers must implement measures
to protect children.
The measures in fact include parental controls,
safe search settings and warning labels.
The legislation is being reviewed by parliamentary committees in the
upper Senate chamber that might propose amendments,
and this move also aligns with the global efforts to
enhance online safety,
as seen in Britain's recent implementation of tougher standards for
social media.
With its new online safety laws.
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