Liberals revamping online harms bill with focus on deepfakes, exploitation and AI: justice minister

National Post

10 hours ago

Justice Minister Sean Fraser says the federal government plans to take a 'fresh' look at its online harms legislation over the summer, but it's not clear yet exactly what the bill will look like when it is reintroduced.
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It would be the Liberals' third attempt to pass legislation to address harmful behaviour online.
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Fraser told The Canadian Press in an interview that the government hasn't decided whether to rewrite or simply reintroduce the Online Harms Act, which was introduced in 2024 but did not pass.
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He said Canadians can expect measures addressing deepfakes and child exploitation 'to be included in legislative reforms coming up in the near future.'
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In their election platform, the Liberals promised to make the distribution of non-consensual sexual deepfakes a criminal offence. They also pledged to introduce a bill to protect children from online sexploitation and extortion, and to give law enforcement and prosecutors additional tools to pursue those crimes.
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Fraser said the growth of artificial intelligence is influencing the discussions.
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The spread of generative AI has changed both the online space and everyday life since the federal government first introduced the legislation.
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'We will have that in mind as we revisit the specifics of online harms legislation,' he added. 'The world changes and governments would be remiss if they didn't recognize that policy needs to shift.'
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Online harms legislation was first proposed by then-heritage minister Steven Guilbeault in 2021, but after widespread criticism, the government pivoted and shifted the file to the justice minister.
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Guilbeault is now back in his old ministry, which has been renamed Canadian identity and culture. Prime Minister Mark Carney has also created an artificial intelligence ministry, headed up by rookie MP Evan Solomon.
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Fraser said he expects 'significant engagement' with Guilbeault and Solomon, but it will be determined later which minister will take the lead on the file.
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The first version of the bill alarmed critics who warned that the provision requiring platforms to take down offending content within 24 hours would undermine free expression.
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When Fraser's predecessor, Arif Virani, introduced the Online Harms Act in 2024, the bill restricted that 24-hour takedown provision to content that sexually victimizes a child or revictimizes a survivor, or intimate content shared without consent, including deepfakes.
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