
Quebec law that helps victims of intimate image sharing remove photos now in effect
The iris scanner, centre, and camera lens, right, are shown on the back of a smartphone, Monday, April 17, 2017, in New York. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Mark Lennihan
MONTREAL — A Quebec law is coming into force, giving people new tools to obtain a court order to remove intimate images posted online.
Under the Criminal Code, publishing, texting or sharing intimate images of someone without their consent is a crime.
But for most victims, this does not always mean unlawfully shared images will get removed quickly.
The new Quebec law allows victims to fill out a form online or at a courthouse and obtain an order from a judge requiring the images or footage to be removed.
Failure to comply comes with stiff penalties — with fines up to $50,000 per day for a first offence or 18 months in jail.
Quebec is the second province after British Columbia to pass legislation protecting victims of non-consensual image sharing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CBC
5 minutes ago
- CBC
New U.S. travel ban is 'cruel,' Myanmar association in Ontario says
The head of an association for the Myanmar community in Ontario says a new travel ban announced by U.S. President Donald Trump is "cruel" to the people of his country. Napas Thein, president of the Burma Canadian Association of Ontario, says the people of Myanmar are already facing difficulties in their own country with a military coup and new law mandating military service, and the ban will make it harder to move to a safer place. He says members of his community in Canada will not be allowed into the United States to study or visit due to the new ban, which takes effect Monday. Thein says he and others from the Myanmar diaspora who are Canadian citizens feel uneasy about crossing the border and some have already started cancelling plans to attend conferences or visit their families in the United States. WATCH | Trump defends travel ban: Trump defends travel ban on 12 countries: 'We don't want them' 16 hours ago Duration 2:02 U.S. President Donald Trump defended banning entry to citizens of twelve countries and imposing stiff travel restrictions on seven other countries. Trump said he's focused on countries that pose a terror threat, have a history of visa violations or lack safe travel documentation systems. Trump announced Wednesday that citizens of 12 countries — Myanmar, Afghanistan, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen — would be banned from visiting the United States. Seven more countries — Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela — face heightened travel restrictions. Some of the 12 countries on the banned list were targeted by a similar measure Trump enacted in his first term. Dawit Demoz, vice-president of the Eritrean Canadian Community Centre in Toronto, says his organization is "deeply concerned" about the implications of the new travel ban for the Eritrean diaspora. He says many families in the Eritrean community south of the border remain separated due to the ongoing political and humanitarian crisis in their home country, and the new ban further complicates their efforts to reunite. "[The ban] creates additional fear and uncertainty for those seeking safety and connection across borders," he said. "For our community, policies like this do not just impact travel but they deepen isolation, delay reunification and compound the emotional toll experienced by displaced individuals."


National Observer
11 minutes ago
- National Observer
Canada and the US share the same economic goals: Ambassador Pete Hoekstra
U.S. President Donald Trump's goal of enhancing American power aligns with Prime Minister Mark Carney's aim of making Canada's economy the fastest-growing in the G7, Trump's envoy to Canada said Friday. "It's going to continue to be a very strong and friendly relationship," Ambassador Pete Hoekstra told The Canadian Press in an interview Friday, adding the two leaders are in frequent contact. "You've got two leaders that are invigorating and transforming their economies, to benefit the people of the U.S. and the people of Canada." Hoekstra insisted there is no "discrepancy" between his calls for win-win economic arrangements between Canada and the U.S. and Trump's repeated claim that America doesn't need Canadian imports and doesn't want Canadian-made cars. "There is absolutely no discrepancy between me and the president. The president clearly is the decision-maker," he said. Though he said the U.S. intends to continue imposing tariffs on imports from multiple countries, including Canada, he argued there's room to resolve irritants in the economic relationship. "The president is ... saying tariffs are part of our new framework. That's not a Canadian problem. That's a global issue," he said. Canada and the US share the same economic goals, says US Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra "The great thing is you've got the top leaders involved in the discussions, which means that both countries view this as being important, serious, and they want this to get resolved." He said the fact that Trump and Carney have been engaging in private talks that haven't been leaked to the media indicate a mutual focus on making progress. He also insisted the talks aren't happening in secret, although neither side has released readouts reporting on the content of the meetings. "I don't think the president or the prime minister are going to put out a statement every time that, 'Oh, I texted the president last night, and he responded,' or you know, 'We had a five-minute call,'" he said. "Everybody knows that right now, tariffs, economic growth and these types of things are the top of the agenda. That for the prime minister being the No. 1 growing economy in the G7 is one of his goals and objectives, and knowing that our President Donald Trump is doing everything that he can he can to ignite the U.S. economy. "Why is anybody surprised that there may be different levels of communications going on to make that happen?" Hoekstra admitted he isn't informed every time Carney and Trump talk. "I'd be interested in knowing exactly how often it's happening. I don't need to know," he said. "There (are) multiple channels between key decision-makers that are open and are being used, but I don't need to know the quantity or the frequency. I just need to know that they exist, because that tells me that we can be making progress." Hoekstra did not offer a timeline for trade talks as discussions continue between Ottawa and Washington on tariffs and a possible early start to a review of the North American trade deal this fall. The ambassador said Trump, Carney, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and various Canadian ministers are negotiating with advice from businesspeople on both sides of the border. "They all understand that great negotiations, great discussions, end with a win-win," he said. Hoekstra said America wants strong borders, an end to fentanyl deaths and sustainable spending, and said Canada can partner with the U.S. on shared security and prosperity. "Our objective is to stay the most powerful country in the world," he said. The ambassador said he's had a warm reception in Canada, despite the tensions in the relationship that he had been reading about in the six months leading up to the start of his posting in April. "I knew that there was a tension, a different tone and tenor than what we normally expected from our northern neighbours," he said. "But you know, we're going get past this."


CTV News
15 minutes ago
- CTV News
Chow, Ford strike collaborative tone on future of Toronto bike lanes
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow appear to have found middle ground on the future of bike lanes in the city as the province looks to rip up 19 kilometres of cycling infrastructure on three major roads. Chow said Friday that city staff have identified areas where car lanes can be restored while keeping bike lanes intact and that her team is currently looking at technical drawings to determine their feasibility. 'So, I think that's a solution that can be arrived at through collaboration, which is what we're doing right now,' Chow said after joking that she and Ford rode a tandem bicycle to Friday's unrelated news. Ford's government passed legislation last year to remove sections of bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue. The legislation also requires that municipalities ask the province for permission to install a bike lane if a lane for cars would be removed. In April, lawyers for a cycling advocacy group challenging the removal of those bike lanes were granted an injunction, which paused the provincial plans until a judge decides on the constitutionality of the case. The Ontario government is appealing that decision. Ford lashed out at what he called 'bleeding heart judges' following the injunction being granted and suggested that Ontario should elect their judges, like they do in the U.S. However, he struck a more agreeable tone on Friday. 'I want to work collaboratively with the mayor, and when it comes to the bike lanes, we had a clear mandate in the last election, but the fact is, we're talking about three bike lanes, and hopefully we can find alternatives and work with the mayor and with the city staff. That's what we want to do,' Ford said, adding that he doesn't 'hate bike riders or bike lanes.' Ford said while the conversations about bike lanes on Bloor, Yonge and University are ongoing, '98 per cent' of the city's other bike lanes would be 'left alone.' It's unclear which areas along those three major streets have been identified as viable options to reintroduce a car lane, but a source familiar with the plan told The Canadian Press in April that it includes returning two car lanes to University Avenue near the city's hospital row, and narrowing the bike lanes and removing on-street parking. The province didn't reject the idea and said it was 'open' to the idea, so long as the city funds their portion of 'their identified infrastructure needs.' With files from The Canadian Press