©Reuters.
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada unveiled a bill on Monday to fight online hate that would force major companies to quickly remove harmful content and increase sentences for those who incite genocide to up to life in prison.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government introduced the bill with the stated goal of protecting children from online predators.
The bill states that major social media companies must quickly remove content that sexually victimizes a child and intimate content that is communicated without consent. In both cases, the content should be removed within 24 hours, subject to an oversight and review process.
In a briefing to journalists, government officials cited a “lack of accountability and transparency about how platforms protect users from harmful content.”
Content providers should also introduce special protections for children, including parental controls, safe search settings and warning labels on content.
The bill covers social media, user-uploaded adult content and live streaming services, but not private, encrypted messaging services.
And at a time when tensions are growing over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, the bill would also dramatically increase penalties for those found guilty of advocating or promoting genocide. The proposed maximum sentence would be life imprisonment, compared to the current five years.
It is not very clear whether all provisions will make it to the final version. The bill must first be examined by a parliamentary committee and then by the upper house of the Senate, both of which can request changes.
Other nations are moving to protect children from the dangers of the Internet. The UK’s Online Safety Act came into force last October, setting tougher standards for social media platforms.
The Canadian government tabled the bill at a time when ties with major internet companies are strained over Ottawa’s demand to pay Canadian news publishers for their content.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:)’s Google agreed last November to pay C$100 million a year to publishers, while Meta agreed to block news on Facebook (NASDAQ:) and Instagram in Canada to avoid the payments.