EDITORIAL: A brave new world of social media bans

Whenever politicians start meddling in what people can say and do on social media, it sets off alarm bells.

The goals of legislation aimed at banning kids from social media or protecting minorities from online hate are laudable. But the implementation of such laws is fraught with pitfalls.

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Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced last week that his government will pursue a ban on social media for children under 16 years old. Certainly, that sounds well-intended and, like apple pie and motherhood, who could argue against it? Likewise, at the Liberal party convention last month, delegates voted to support such a ban.

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So, how would social media sites verify the age of users? Wouldn’t the personal information users would have to provide to access a site leave them open to even more abuse? Is the cure worse than the disease?

In a different vein, the “Combatting Hate Act” is the successor to the Online Harms Bill that died on the order paper before the last election. Introduced last September by Justice Minister Sean Fraser, it proposes changes to the Criminal Code that will “codify a definition of ‘hatred’ to clarify when conduct constitutes a hate crime.” It will also allow for speedier enforcement by removing the requirement to obtain the attorney general’s consent.

Culture Minister Marc Miller has speculated in the past about removing the “good faith” religious exemption for hate speech from the Criminal Code. He believes scripture cannot be used to justify “hate.”

So, we have a government redefining what “hate” is, passing judgment on religious texts and telling believers what they can believe. And it will short-circuit the process to get a conviction.

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If this sounds familiar, look no further than Britain, which has a “non-crime hate incident” system, whereby police monitor and track online statements. One woman was jailed for more than a year for a post on X, shortly after the mass murder of three children, in which she called for “mass deportations” and for hotels to be burned. The post was quickly removed and she apologized. She still went to jail.

Police said they would no longer enforce such a system after Irish comedian Graham Linehan was arrested for a post on X.

It’s a brave new world out there. The question is, does Canada want to join it?

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