Post Tagged with: "cyberbullying"

Is C-13 Needed?: How Canadian Law Already Features Extensive Rules to Combat Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying was in the news last week with Justice Minister Peter MacKay indicating that Bill C-13 could pass by the spring. The reaction to the bill – the government’s lawful access/cyberbullying legislation – has generally included criticism over the inclusion of lawful access provisions from Bill C-30 along with assurances that the cyberbullying provisions are important and worthy of support (though experts in the field doubt whether it will stop online taunting). I discuss the dangers associated with Bill C-13 in this interview on TVO’s The Agenda.

Comments from Conservative MPs unsurprisingly point to the need to protect children from cyberbullying. For example, Conservative MP John Carmichael told the House of Commons:

January 13, 2014 — 5 comments — News

The Trouble With Bill C-13: Why the “Cyberbullying Bill” is About Much More than Cyberbullying

Earlier this week I appeared on TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin to discuss Bill C-13. While Justice Minister Peter MacKay indicated yesterday that he hopes to pass the legislation this spring, the discussion on the show points to the concerns with the bill including how it creates immunity for voluntary disclosure of personal information without court oversight (thereby increasing the likelihood of such disclosures) and establishes a low threshold for warrants involving metadata, while only marginally addressing the legal framework to combat cyberbullying, which is already well developed. The interview is embedded below.

January 10, 2014 — 16 comments — News, News Interviews, Tv / Radio

Justice Parliamentary Secretary Links Cable Theft to Terrorist Plots, Cyberbullying

Media coverage of the government’s introduction of Bill C-13, the lawful access/cyberbullying bill, quickly focused on the inclusion of provisions that seemingly had little to do with cyberbullying, including terrorism and theft of cable. While the government has tried to justify the omnibus approach on the grounds that it is modernizing investigative powers in the Criminal Code, it is striking that some MPs have claimed that there is an even more direct link.

Bob Dechert, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice, said the following during debate on Bill C-13 in the House of Commons:

December 2, 2013 — 8 comments — News

Lawful Access Returns Under the Cover of Cyber-Bullying Bill

In February 2012, then-Public Safety Minister Vic Toews introduced Internet surveillance legislation that sparked widespread criticism from across the political spectrum. The overwhelming negative publicity pressured the government to quickly backtrack by placing Bill C-30 on hold. Earlier this year, then-Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced that the bill was dead, confirming “we will not be proceeding with Bill C-30 and any attempts that we will continue to have to modernize the Criminal Code will not contain the measures contained in C-30.”

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that Nicholson’s commitment lasted less than a year. Last week, Peter MacKay, the new federal justice minister, unveiled Bill C-13, which is being marketed as an effort to crack down on cyber-bullying. Yet the vast majority of the bill simply brings back many (though not all) lawful access provisions found in Bill C-30.

November 27, 2013 — 2 comments — Columns

Lawful Access Returns Under the Cover of Cyberbullying Bill

Appeared in the Toronto Star on November 22, 2013 as Lawful Access Returns Under the Cover of Cyber-Bullying Bill In February 2012, then-Public Safety Minister Vic Toews introduced Internet surveillance legislation that sparked widespread criticism from across the political spectrum. The overwhelming negative publicity pressured the government to quickly backtrack […]

November 27, 2013 — Comments are Disabled — Columns Archive