EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on Queen's Park Today, a Village Media newsletter devoted exclusively to covering federal politics at Parliament Hill.
A group of young people is urging all parties to put partisanship aside and pass the government’s online harms bill, arguing it supports the “basic needs” of youth.
A delegation of Young Politicians of Canada (YPC) members spoke to Hill reporters Tuesday after meeting with several MPs about Bill C-63, which was tabled in September and has yet to clear second reading. Those talks will stretch into Wednesday.
Among other things, the bill proposes the creation of a digital safety commissioner, digital safety ombudsperson and digital safety office — which parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux has predicted will cost about $201 million over five years.
It would also order online services to make some content “inaccessible,” including removing content shared without consent and material that sexually victimized a child within 24 hours of the commissioner getting a complaint. Companies not doing so could be hit with a fine of up to $10 million or six per cent of its global revenue.
The YPC wants to ensure youth voices are reflected in those bodies, given younger people are the “main stakeholders” in online spaces. Delegates added that MPs should also focus on addressing “emerging technologies” around threats posed by AI and deepfakes, on top of more traditional threats like cyberbullying and sexual exploitation.
The Conservatives have dismissed the Liberal bill as an “expensive kangaroo court,” vowing to bring in competing legislation that would hike penalties for existing online criminal offences.
The proposed CPC legislation would also ban the non-consensual sharing of intimate images created by AI, and let victims request social media companies identify those who have harassed them.
Asked about the CPC’s plans, YPC president Jaden Braves appeared to suggest there is room for negotiation.
“It’s exceptionally important for all parties to realize this is not a bill about parties and politics. This is a bill about every young person in Canada that is looking at a screen seven hours a day,” Braves said.
He added the group’s talks with MPs this week show that all parties agree that online safety is an issue worth addressing, and the YPC will be watching the bill’s progress as it makes its way through the parliamentary process.
“It’s a matter of parties and House leaders sitting down with one another and finding the commonalities — because we know there is, and that’s the fundamental protection of youth in Canada,” he added.
“If we can't sit down to find what we can agree on from the get to support the basic needs of youth, that's not democracy.”
