Opinion: Canadian legislation against online hate is overdue

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Anti-Semitism, in the streets, on the Internet, and around the world, is on the rise, warranting international outcry and global and national solutions. This was the subject of a historic summit last month in Washington, DC, organized by the Interparliamentary Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism Online.

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The summit brought together cross-party elected officials from Canada, the United States, Israel, New Zealand, the European Union, and South Africa; Special Envoys to Combat Anti-Semitism from Canada, the United States, the Organization of American States, and Israel; and representatives from Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Google.

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Co-chaired by Montreal MP Anthony Housefather and US Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, with the support of former Montrealer and Israeli Knesset member Michal Cotler-Wunsh, the summit served as an opportunity for our Canadian legislators and civil society to meet contacted their counterparts, many of whom, even in Australia and the United Kingdom — are ahead of Canada in legislating against hate online.

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A national strategy on online hate must include: an independent regulatory regime to ensure impartiality; a definition of hate that aligns with the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Canada, balancing the control of hate with the protection of freedom of expression; penalties for non-compliance; a complaints process that forces social media companies to be the “first stop” for dealing with online harm; a direct connection to Canada’s anti-racism strategy, including the widely supported and adopted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism; and an educational component to combat hate.

The Jewish community in Canada is one of the main targets of hate. But anti-Semitism is not a “Jewish problem.” It is a social issue that all Canadians must consider: Do you want a country that rejects or welcomes minorities?

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Canada Statistics shows that Jews remain the most targeted religious minority group, with a 47% increase in incidents against Jews since 2020. Data shows that Jews are 10 times more likely than any other Canadian religious minority to be the target of a crime of hate.

When it comes to hate online, according to a recent survey commissioned according to the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, 58 percent of Canadians say online hate is a serious threat; and about 80 percent want legislation to combat it.

I also hope that the summit and its shocking exposures of failures in transparency and consistent enforcement of anti-hate policy on social media platforms will motivate the Canadian government to introduce its overdue online harm legislation. It’s not just that Canadian Jews and other identifiable minority groups deserve our government’s full support in combating hate on the streets and online. It is also that history tells us that a society that allows anti-Semitism to rise is in greater danger.

Richard Marceau, a lawyer and former MP from Quebec, is vice president of the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).