Heritage Department restarting consultations on online harms bill

Federal Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez is set to restart countrywide consultations Friday on the government’s proposed online harms legislation after a group of experts convened by his department disagreed on the best path forward.

Over the course of a 10-page summary report, released Friday along with the announcement, it was revealed the 12 academics Ottawa gathered earlier this spring could not come to a consensus on whether software companies should be forced to proactively monitor or remove harmful content, whether private messages should be included in the legislation, and how to define « harm » itself.

« Some experts argued that legislation should move away from an approach that identifies specific types of harmful content. Instead, they argued that harm could be defined in a broader way, such as harm to a specific segment of the population, like children, seniors, or minority groups, » the report, which did not attribute any of the opinions to specific experts, explained.

Ce contenu a été mis à jour le 07/11/2022 à 12:19 PM.