Online harms bill’s proposed changes risk silencing free speech, experts warn

Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani speaks about the Online Harms Act during a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Feb. 26.

Josh Dehaas, a lawyer with the Canadian Constitution Foundation, warned the bill could silence people, from comedians to commentators, who fear being reported to the Human Rights Commission and the prospect of huge fines. He said most speech wouldn’t cross the line from constitutionally protected expression to hate speech – but most people would be unsure where that line is.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission dismissed a complaint filed by the Canadian Islamic Congress about an article written by Mark Steyn, titled The Future Belongs to Islam, posted on the Maclean’s website in October, 2006. The Congress argued that the article made statements and assertions likely to expose Muslims to hatred or contempt.

“The problem with applying human-rights legislation to the context of comedy is that intent and also context matter, incredibly. It’s really hard to argue that somebody who is being deliberately provocative, perhaps even deliberately offensive, would be doing the same thing as discriminating against someone, say, in employment contexts or a housing context,” he said.

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