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

BTR1701 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 and
     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.

I can't see this tragedy of a proposed law being
declared constitutional if it is eventually passed.

Even with that goofy "not withstanding clause" built
into the Canadian constitution that allows provinces
to opt out of laws and amendments they don't like, it
should not be able to pass a court's scrutiny or be
in line with the northern take on the US's Bill of
Rights...which is no where near as citizens'-rights
friendly as the US's.

For sure, if it does pass and is enforced, there will
be a lot of people injured by bogus charges until a
court overturns it.

And I *really* think handing it over to the Human
Rights Tribunal is a red flag, given the really poor
track record that Tribunal has already shown since
its inception.

What a mess! And what a sword to hold over the heads
of just about any Canadian who interacts with the
Internet.

Nyssa, who is glad that she is living south of the
border with the protections of the Bill of Rights
and the rest of the US Constitution protecting her