Bill C-412

Promotion of Safety in the Digital Age Act

An Act to enact the Protection of Minors in the Digital Age Act and to amend the Criminal Code

Part 1 of this enactment enacts the Protection of Minors in the Digital Age Act , the purpose of which is to provide for a safe online environment for minors by requiring owners and operators of platforms such as online services or applications to put the interests of minors first and to ensure that minors’ personal data is not used in a manner that could compromise their privacy, health or well-… read more

Part 1 of this enactment enacts the Protection of Minors in the Digital Age Act , the purpose of which is to provide for a safe online environment for minors by requiring owners and operators of platforms such as online services or applications to put the interests of minors first and to ensure that minors’ personal data is not used in a manner that could compromise their privacy, health or well-being.
Part 2 amends the Criminal Code to, among other things,
(a) prohibit the publication of the image of a person created or edited through the use of computer software that falsely represents the person, in a manner that is intended to make the image appear authentic, as being nude, as exposing their genital organs, anal region or breasts or as being engaged in explicit sexual activity;
(b) create a separate offence of criminal harassment that is conducted by means of the Internet, a social media service or other digital network and require the court imposing a sentence for the offence to consider as an aggravating factor the fact that the offender, in committing the offence, communicated with the victim anonymously or using a false identity; and
(c) provide for the circumstances in which a person who presents a risk of committing an offence of online harassment may be required to enter into a recognizance and, if the person has communicated anonymously or using a false identity, provide for the circumstances in which a court may make a production order for the purpose of identifying the person.

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Promotion of Safety in the Digital Age Act

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-412, An Act to enact the Protection of Minors in the Digital Age Act and to amend the Criminal Code.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise and introduce this bill that would ensure that Canadians are protected online without infringing upon their civil liberties.

Canadians are paying the price from a failure of the Liberals to provide necessary protection from online threats while they create costly censorship bureaucracies. This common sense legislation would modernize existing criminal offences to protect Canadians from harm as it occurs online with special provisions to protect minors. The bill would modernize the existing crime of criminal harassment to address the ease and anonymity of how it happens online, would provide mechanisms specifically designed to protect minors who are online and would update Canada's existing laws on the non-consensual distribution of intimate images to ensure that the non-consensual distribution of highly realistic intimate images created by artificial intelligence is criminalized, while preserving the existing provisions in current law about fair use.

Canadians need a common sense approach to tackle criminal harassment online, while ensuring that their civil liberties are protected, and this bill would do just that.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)