Draft Canada law would force social media companies to quickly remove harmful content

Canada on Monday unveiled draft legislation to combat online hate that would force major companies to quickly remove harmful content and would boost the penalty for inciting genocide to life in prison.

Canada on Monday unveiled draft legislation to combat online hate that would force major companies to quickly remove harmful content and would boost the penalty for inciting genocide to life in prison. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from online predators.

The bill says major social media companies must quickly remove content that sexually victimizes a child and intimate content that is communicated without consent. In both cases, the content would have to be removed within 24 hours, subject to an oversight and review process. A company found guilty of contravening the law could be fined a maximum of 6% of its gross global revenues, government officials said during a technical briefing.

"There must be consequences for those who violate the rules online ... bad actors target our most vulnerable - our children. They spread vile hate and encourage impressionable people to commit violence," Justice Minister Arif Virani told reporters. Content providers would have to introduce special protections for children, including parental controls, safe search settings and content warning labels.

The bill covers social media, user-uploaded adult content and live-streaming services but not private and encrypted messaging services. The bill would also sharply raise the penalties for those found guilty of advocating or promoting genocide. The proposed maximum sentence would be life in prison, up from the five years at present.

Whether all the provisions make it through to the final version is unclear. The bill must be studied by a parliamentary committee and then the upper Senate chamber, both of which can demand changes. Other nations are moving to shield children from danger on the internet. Last October, Britain's new Online Safety Law set tougher standards for social media platforms.

The Canadian government introduced the bill at a time when ties with major internet companies are strained over Ottawa's demand that they pay Canadian news publishers for their content. Alphabet's Google agreed last November to pay C$100 million annually to publishers while Meta decided to block news on Facebook and Instagram in Canada.

Meta did not respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Google said the company was unlikely to react on Monday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)