During the 2019 election campaign, the Liberals pledged to legislate to combat online hate. They did not keep this promise and reiterated it during 2021, going so far as to promise to table the bill within the first 100 days of their third mandate. This deadline has long passed and we still have not seen the shadow of legislation in this direction.
On October 17, during a major conference on anti-Semitism organized by the Advisory Center for Jewish and Israel Relations, Justice Minister Arif Virani repeated the government’s commitment to presenting a bill to combat against online hatred. We are still waiting.
The problem is that hatred does not wait and Canadians are suffering because of the government’s procrastination in keeping its promise.
Anti-Semitism is often called “the oldest hatred in the world,” and Canada is not immune. Year after year, Statistics Canada data confirms that Jews are the religious minority most targeted by hate crimes. The uninhibited and terrifying hatred of Jews has become even worse since Hamas’s vicious attack on Israeli citizens on October 7.
One of the fertile grounds for this hatred lies in the content published on the Internet. The virtual world is an ideal playground for the dissemination of elements of disinformation and propaganda and for those influencing the radicalization of individuals through hatred. Many Internet users do not have sufficient digital skills and thus become easy prey for individuals, groups or States, protected by the relative anonymity of the Internet, who deliberately disseminate false or manipulated information. Hiding behind a keyboard thus becomes more useful. Over the past two months, the level of anti-Semitic toxicity online has reached a fever pitch.
Additionally, what happens online doesn’t stay online.
Jewish schools have been the target of shootings and bomb threats. Synagogues and community establishments have been vandalized with Molotov cocktails. Jewish students were insulted and attacked on various campuses and Jewish businesses were vandalized or subjected to hostile protests.
Since October 7, we have seen Canadians divided by an “us versus them” vision, exacerbated by false narratives and lies. Conspiracy theories and pernicious clichés are spreading. Religious and ethnic groups drawn into conflict halfway around the world need increased security to protect their members here.
I’m not naive enough to think that Jewish hatred would have been eradicated if the government had kept its promise to protect Canadians from online hatred, but this divisive factor would certainly have been reduced. A little bit.
The federal government has a central role to play in combating online anti-Semitism and, for the soul of our country, it cannot be delayed any longer.
The promised legislation would also establish an independent regulator to ensure impartial decisions on what constitutes hate online.
To detect hatred, it must still be defined. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right of our democracy.
The bar must be set so that free speech is protected and real hatred is targeted and exposed. This definition of hatred should be based on the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court. Additionally, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism — adopted as part of Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy in 2019 — should be used as a non-legally binding guide to what constitutes anti-Semitism.
Social media companies are often more part of the problem than the solution. They should be obliged to combat hate online, and sanctions should be imposed for failure to do so. They should also be required to increase the transparency of their algorithms, usage policies and internal guidelines.
Finally, Ottawa must launch a national social media education campaign to educate Canadians — especially the youngest and most vulnerable — about the appropriate use and abuse of social media. Designed with the help of those most affected by online hate, including the Jewish community, this campaign is expected to include up-to-date information on combating misinformation and online hate. The federal government should also promote it to provincial governments, municipalities and educational establishments to ensure wider dissemination.
The rise of anti-Semitism is spectacular in Canada. Part of the solution is to reduce the level of Jew-hatred online.
The Liberals promised to tackle online hate. It’s high time they kept their promise.