Re: More on Canadia's Orwellian 'Online Harms Law'

On Sat, 18 May 2024 20:28:21 -0700
BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
 

In article <20240518194548.00000649@example.com>,
 Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
 

On Sat, 18 May 2024 16:12:37 -0700
BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
 

This just gets nuttier and nuttier as well as more and more
ominous for anyone who is a mapleback. Effa's so worried about
Trump's dictatorial potential but Trump ain't got nothin' on
Justin Trudeau's dictatorial reality. He's actually managed to
work in *both* pre-crime penalties *and* ex-post facto law into
the same bill. That's an achievement I don't think even Stalin
and Mao managed to accomplish:
 
     The C-63 legislation authorizes house arrest and
     electronic monitoring for a person considered likely
     to commit a future crime. If a judge believes there
     are reasonable grounds to 'fear' a future hate crime,
     the as of yet innocent party can be sentenced to house
     arrest, complete with electronic monitoring, mandatory
     drug testing, and communication bans. Failure to
     cooperate nets you an additional year in jail.
 
     What is a hate crime? According to the Bill, it is a
     communication expressing 'detestation or vilification'.
     But, clarified the government, that is not the same as
     'disdain or dislike', or speech that 'discredits,
     humiliates, hurts, or offends'.
 
     Unfortunately the government didn't think to include a
     graduated scheme setting out the relative acceptability
     of the words offend, hurt, humiliate, discredit, dislike,
     disdain, detest, and vilify. Under Bill C-63, you can
     be put away FOR LIFE for a 'crime' whose legal existence
     hangs on the distinction between 'dislike' and 'detest'.
 
And if that's not fucking terrifying enough, as mentioned above,
Trudeau has also added a retroactive ex-post facto feature to the
bill:
 
     Canada to Imprison Anyone Who Has EVER Posted 'Hate
     Speech' Online
 
     The Trudeau regime has introduced an Orwellian new aspect
     to C-63 (The Online Harms Bill), which will give police the
     power to retroactively search the internet for 'hate speech'
     violations and arrest offenders, even if the offense occurred
     BEFORE the law even existed.
 
If you don't thank every day whatever higher power you believe in
that you live in a country whose founders not only gave us the
Constitution but anticipated shitbags like Justin Trudeau and
preemptively blocked them from being able to do bullshit like
this, then you and I have no common frame of reference. 

 
There are going to be damned few Canadians that can't be charged
under this law if it gets passed - and there is VERY little reason
to imagine that it will NOT be passed given that the Liberals and
the NDP, who have a de facto coalition, have enough votes to get it
passed. Ironically, a great many of those hateful remarks will be
those directed at those same two parties. Indeed, those remarks may
be WHY this legislation was created! The politicians may have been
more worried about themselves being criticized than hurtful remarks
being said about minorities.
 
A whole lot of the commenters in the websites that allow comments
have been quite open in expressing their disdain for the present
regime. I expect social media is much the same. Heck, if Usenet
counts as social media, I'm surely going to be charged too for my
remarks. If I suddenly go quiet for more than a few days, you'll
know that Bill C-63 has swept me up. 

 
Wait! It gets worse...
 
Not only do the 'hate speech provisions apply retroactively, the
government will be paying bounties to people who snitch out their
neighbors:
 
     Under C-63, anonymous accusations and secret testimony are
     permitted (at the Human Rights Tribunal's discretion).
     Complaints are free to file and an accuser, if successful,
     can stand to reap up to $20,000, with another $50,000 going
     to the government.
 
     What does any of this have to do with protecting children
     online? Nothing, as far as we can see. This entire law seems
     designed more to punish and silence enemies of the Liberal
     government and shield it from criticism than protect any
     children.
 
     In addition, all social media companies are going to be
     supervised by a brand-new government body called the Digital
     Safety Commission. This commission can, without oversight,
     require companies to block access to any content, conduct
     investigations, hold secret hearings, require companies to
     hand over specific content and information on account holders,
     and give all data to any third-party 'researchers' that the
     commission deems necessary. All data. Any content. No oversight.
 
     The ostensible purpose of putting the Commission (and not the
     ordinary police) in charge is so that it can act informally
     and quickly (i.e., without a warrant)...
 
We don't need those pesky warrants anymore in Canadia. We're
protecting the cheeeeeldruuuunnn, dontcha know?
 
     ...in situations where child porn can spread quickly across
     the internet. What it means in effect, however, is that the
     Digital Safety Commission is accountable to no one and does
     not have to justify its actions. It endows government
     appointees with vast authority to interpret the law, make up
     new rules, enforce them, and serve as judge, jury, and
     sentencing authority all in one.
 
     Canada already has laws criminalizing terrorism and threats,
     so we're not talking about someone plotting murder or terror.
     Then who are we talking about? People who read the 'wrong'
     websites? People who won't get vaccinated? People who
     criticize Justin Trudeau? People who go to church and believe
     certain activities are immoral and will send you to hell?
 
     Between the Online Harms Bill and his appalling misuse of the
     Emergencies Act to debank protesters, Trudeau is making a
     mockery of the law he has sworn to uphold.
 

You might be surprised to note that this bill is NOT the subject of
great controversy in this country. In fact, beyond the initial
articles describing the intent of the law, I haven't seen it even
MENTIONED in our media 

 
Yes, they really do try and keep this sort of thing quiet until it's
passed into law and the round-ups have begun, don't they?
 

Trudeau really HAS destroyed this country. This kind of thing would
have been unimaginable to anyone but the most paranoid prior to his
election in 2015. 

 
What is the source of the quotes you've put in this thread? I really
need to share this with all my friends, none of whom are on Usenet.

This law should be massively gutted, especially of the provisions that
allow for its application to things said before the law is passed and
the money paid to snitches. The definition of "hate" and the
distinction from "disdain", "dislike", et. al. also needs to be a lot
clearer. Of course if they do that, nothing much is left.