Online hate is pervasive. It is a barrier to the free expression and democratic participation for
Canadians. Racialized, Indigenous, women, LGBTQ+, and faith minority groups are often overrepresented in being victims of online hate. Online hate is often criminal, but has not been sufficiently addressed by large online platforms or the criminal justice system.
On Monday, February 26, 2024 the federal government tabled the Online Harms Act (Bill C-63) which creates new duties for social media platform companies to act responsibly to deal with content that creates harms.
The Mosaic Institute, as a part of the Canadian Coalition to Combat Online Hate, has
issued public support of the Online Harms Bill. You can read that press release below.
Our Executive Director, Leigh Naturkach, along with other organizational leaders, issued a statement about the importance of regulating hate online:
“We applaud the introduction of Bill C-63. We have long advocated for the federal government to counter hatred online. We know from experience how bad the situation is in online spaces. This Bill is a step in the right direction to regulate the online community to reduce the hatred spread on the internet.”
Additionally, as a member of the Anti-hate Community Leaders’ Group, Mosaic Institute welcomes the Online Harms Act, which meets many of the requirements we have been presenting to the government since 2019 and officially presented to now Minister Arif Virani in 2020. As the statement explains:
"We recognize that the bill is not perfect, however, it is urgently needed to protect vulnerable and marginalized people online. We cannot afford to allow hate content to remain unregulated any longer."
You can read about this statement––which includes what the Online Harms Act does, what it should do, and what else needs to be done––can be found below.
If you have any questions about these statements, please do not hesitate to get in touch.