According to a recent National Post article, free speech advocates say the Liberal government’s re-introduction of a new version of a controversial hate speech law involving the Canadian Human Rights Commission brings back the same problems that led to its repeal in 2013. Professor Richard Moon said the new hate speech law allows the commission to immediately dismiss complaints if it judges they clearly don’t involve hate speech.
Overall, he said, “this is substantially the same provision… it relies upon private citizens, organizations to initiate a complaint. And one of the problems with the old Section 13 was the incredible burden that placed upon individuals or groups, both to do the basic investigation or inquiry, but also to see the complaint through the process.”
Professor Moon said because of that, there weren’t actually a lot of complaints to the commission, and even fewer – less than 20 — that the commission referred to the tribunal for adjudication. The majority of those were brought forward by one individual targeting neo-Nazi groups. But he noted that the landscape around hate speech has changed with the growth of social media platforms. During the time the tribunal was operating, hate speech was happening on websites individuals had to look for deliberately.
“It was very much in the margins of public conversation. Now of course that’s all changed with social media platforms,” he said.
Professor Moon noted if that leads to a big increase in complaints, the commission may not have the capacity to handle it. “The volume of hate speech out there that individuals or groups could make complaints about is so great that I don’t see how the system can function or operate,” he said.