Carney Hints at Online Harms Regulation

Liberal Leader Mark Carney speaks at a press conference in Ottawa on April 3, 2025. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Liberal Leader Mark Carney says he plans to tackle problematic online content, which was the intention of proposed legislation previously introduced by the Trudeau government.

Bill C-63, intended to deal with online harms, became obsolete when Parliament was prorogued in January.

During a rally in Hamilton on April 10, as he was confronted by a heckler making accusations, Carney said, “there are many serious issues that we’re dealing with,” adding that “one of them is with respect to really just the sea of misogyny, anti-Semitism, hatred, conspiracy theories, this sort of pollution that’s online that washes over our virtual borders from the United States.”

He said his government would take action to address this.

“I can take the conspiracy theories and all that, but the more serious thing is when it affects how people behave in our society, when Canadians are threatened going to their community centres or their places of worship or their school,” Carney said, as originally reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

“My government, if we are elected, will be taking action.”

During a press conference held earlier in the day in Brampton, Carney said new online platforms had created “new threats,” particularly for children.

“While protecting children is first and foremost a parent’s responsibility, it is also a collective responsibility, and with the support of Canadians, my government will act to protect children online,” he said.

The prime minister said large American websites have become “seas of racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and hate in all its forms,” and criminals are using them to harm Canadian children.

A press release from the Liberal Party said it would introduce legislation protecting children from crimes like online extortion, give new funding to the Canadian Center for Child Protection, and provide law enforcement and prosecutors with tools to “stop these crimes and bring perpetrators to justice.”

The Liberal government introduced Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act, into Parliament in February 2024. The legislation would have amended the Canadian Criminal Code and Canadian Human Rights Act to regulate the internet when it comes to content related to sexual exploitation, bullying, deepfakes, and “hateful conduct.”

The legislation would have also established a Digital Safety Commission and other organizations to ensure digital platforms follow the new rules. An individual found to be posting “hate speech” would have faced penalties of up to $50,000, and in more serious cases such as “advocating for genocide,” life imprisonment.

The Conservative Party was opposed to the legislation, arguing it could harm Canadians’ freedom of expression and impose a “vague regulatory framework” that tech lobbyists could manipulate. They warned the new “offence motivated by hatred” could also lead to life in prison for minor infractions.

The bill would have also reinstated Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, which was previously repealed for being overly broad, subjective, and opening the door to government censorship of speech without criminal proceedings.

The Bloc Québécois had suggested splitting the legislation into two parts, one focused around child exploitation and the other amending the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code. The Liberal government abided by this request in December and announced it would be splitting the legislation in two.

When former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prorogued Parliament on Jan. 6, all legislation—including Bill C-63—died and will have to be introduced in the next Parliament. The legislation had yet to pass second reading.