Last week, the Carney government launched its latest attack on free speech online. They call it stopping โharmfulโ content. I call it censorship.
Bill C-34 creates a new bureaucracy: the Digital Safety Commission of Canada. Its job will be to police what you say and read online.
Under the guise of โprotecting children,โ this bill forces social media platforms and AI companies to mitigate exposure to "hate speech.โ
A โhate speech โ is a โcontent that expresses detestation or vilificationโ of an individual or group of individuals based on prohibited grounds of discrimination.
But, courts have always required that "hatred" be extreme to be a crime. This new definition does not include the term "extreme," contrary to case law.
The government therefore broadens the definition of "hatred.โ
Furthermore, the concept of "hate" will no longer be decided by judges. This decision will be made by unelected bureaucrats and scared tech employees facing $10 million fines.
Social media companies and AI companies concerned about facing fines will likely err on the side of censoring more expression by blocking it or filtering it out.
Most shockingly, the bill would censor the output of artificial intelligence like ChatGPT to ensure they donโt give โharmfulโ answers on sensitive topics.
This will result in AI that refuse to give honest answers on unpopular viewpoints. And a sanitized internet where people cannot have difficult conversations and debates on subjects not politically correct, like it happened during the COVID hysteria.
To keep kids under 16 off social media, the bill would force platforms to verify your age. This could involve requiring all adults to present a driver's license to create an account.
Let me be clear: the Peopleโs Party of Canada will always support protecting children from real harm.
But โsafetyโ does not mean censorship. This is not a child safety bill. It is a bill of control and censorship.
A free and democratic society protects speech that is distasteful, unpopular, or contrary to the mainstream. Without that, democracy dies.
We will not trade liberty for the illusion of safety. We will not let Ottawa become the online speech police.