Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for the invitation this morning to speak to you about our concerns as the Anglican Church of Canada with regard to the proliferation of hate online and the very real impacts of this hatred for communities in this country and around the world. We're honoured to join with the voices of so many other diverse organizations in calling for stronger action on this issue across Canada.
Our religious tradition teaches that every person is imbued with inherent dignity and also particularly calls us to embody special care and concern for those who find themselves uniquely vulnerable to harm or attack. Additionally, as Christians, our faith community has enjoyed a historically privileged position in this country, so we recognize that we have a particular responsibility to speak out for the protection of others. If we are to take these commitments seriously, we must raise our voices to oppose hatred in all its forms.
As you all well know, recent years have seen a proliferation of extreme forms of hatred in online fora that encourage violence and dehumanize those who are the targets of this hate. Recent high-profile violent attacks in Canada and abroad have emphasized the reality that these sentiments do not remain online, but have tragic offline consequences as well, and that they are in need of immediate and sustained attention.
We join with many of the other witnesses here today in calling for the federal government to develop a national strategy to combat online hatred. This government has the ability to impose reasonable regulation on social media corporations, Internet service providers and other relevant corporate actors to control the proliferation of violent hate speech in online spaces. The government must also develop a strategy for more effective enforcement of existing laws regarding the public incitement of hatred, with particular attention given to the ways these attitudes are expressed online so that these activities will not go unchallenged.
In order to be effective, any national strategy will also work in partnership with other stakeholders, recognizing that responsibility for combatting hatred, both online and off, does not rest solely with the government. Corporations, including the large social media companies, must update their terms of use and their monitoring and reporting activities in order to better control the dissemination of hate through their networks and to remove hateful posts and users.
Faith communities and civil society organizations must also affirm our commitment to combatting hate in the communities that we serve and to use our voice and influence to challenge such expressions wherever we encounter them. Recognizing that many of the hateful words and actions directed towards the communities impacted by hate speech are carried out in the name of religion, the active participation of faith communities and interfaith coalitions is essential to effectively combatting this reality.
We commit to continuing our work with ecumenical and interfaith partners in addressing these attitudes within our own communities, and we draw strength from the leadership and witness of many Canadian faith groups who have been actively working to combat hate and oppression for many years, some of which are appearing before you today.
It's also important to remember that hatred online is never completely detached from hatred offline: hatred that is being promoted among sympathetic networks or directed at individuals and communities in the streets of our country. Although online hatred presents new challenges in terms of the ready accessibility of such extreme views, the roots of these attitudes are based on arguments and myths with long and influential histories in Canada and around the world. We must confront these attitudes at every opportunity.
A national strategy to address online hatred, then, must also equip families, community leaders and individual Canadians to challenge expressions of hatred, extremism and violence wherever they may encounter it. Education and awareness must be key parts of any strategy to address this issue, equipping people with the tools they need to dismantle these ideologies.
While I've been speaking about online hate in fairly broad terms this morning, we must also name that there are specific communities being targeted by these sentiments and that any national strategy to combat this hatred will only be effective inasmuch as it recognizes the specific realities and repercussions of particular forms of hatred. Although an overarching strategy is certainly necessary in this work, we must also develop integrated strategies that address and debunk the myths underpinning anti-indigenous racism, anti-black racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, Islamophobia, homophobia and transphobia, xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment, religious intolerance and other forms of hatred that have distinct impacts on the safety and security of identifiable groups of people in this country.
The Anglican Church of Canada is increasingly attending to the importance of online presence as a positive means of communication and education, so supporting the development and implementation of a national strategy to combat hatred online is a natural step in this work for us.
We recognize that we have the ability to reach thousands of Canadians through our services and programs across the country, as well as with our online presence. We are committed to continuing to lift up a vision of this country and this world that truly welcomes and respects everyone by offering safe, supportive spaces for all Canadians and by challenging expressions of hatred directly.
If we fail to take more concerted action in this country to combat all forms of hate—online and in person—then further high profile acts of violence will embolden similar action by others. We must all work together to offer a positive, loving alternative to this hate, an alternative that affirms the inherent dignity of all persons in Canada and around the world.
Such an alternative requires strong, strategic direction from government that supports efforts by all stakeholders to challenge these attitudes. We are ready to collaborate in this work together with our prayers, our pulpits and our presence online, but only by working together can we confront this important issue and make our world a little safer for so many.
Thank you.