Cyberbullying and New Laws
The internet, especially social media platforms, has been hailed for making it possible to create, edit, and share content with acquaintances as well as strangers. However, the impact of the internet on social connections has been a double-edged sword. While it has enriched social connections, it has also heightened cybercrimes, especially cyberbullying. Generally, cybercrime is a broad concept implying the use of computers and the internet to undertake illegal operations such as fraud, theft of intellectual property, and violation of privacy. Cyberbullying, in particular, is the use of online platforms to humiliate, intimidate, upset, or tease another person. Despite legal efforts to deter cyberbullying, especially in Canada. It persists to be a serious concern, expanding annually (Abedi, 2018). This raises concerns as to whether current laws adequately cover the concern or new laws should be enacted to address it. This paper contributes to the mentioned contention. There are sufficient laws that adequately cover cyberbullying as illegal behaviour, and what is needed is the effective implementation of the laws rather than enacting new ones.
The State of Cyberbullying in Canada
Despite the lack of reliable and valid measures of cyberbullying, there is a consensus among Canadian researchers that the behaviour is a serious concern that needs to be addressed (Abedi, 2018). A report on Canadian public safety reported that the rate of cyberbullying victimisation averaged at 21% and ranged between 2.3% and 72% (Public Safety Canada, 2018). Offending behaviours relating to cyberbullying averaged at 15% (Public Safety Canada, 2018). The report further shows that 20% of teenagers have been victimised by the behaviour while about 16% have cyberbullied another person at least once in their lifetime (Public Safety Canada, 2018). Beran et al. (2017) who studied the prevalence of the behaviour among children aged between 10 and 17 found that 1 in seven of the children have been cyberbullied and one in 13 have been cyber-perpetrators. The research further showed that children who have been cyber-victimised are at higher risk of exhibiting poor relationships, more anxiety, anger, eating problems, drug use, low self-esteem and physical injury (Beran et al., 2017). A perfect example of cyberbullying is the case of Rehtaeh Parsons, a 17-year old girl who died in a coma after attempted suicide owing to rape by four teenage boys who then shared the images multiple times on social media (Chiu, 2018). The images further ignited intimidating messages with Parson being called “a slut” and receiving sexually harassing text-messages (Chiu, 2018). The prevalence of cyberbullying and its potential impacts, as exemplified by the case of Parsons, demand the need for laws to curb the behaviour.
The Canadian Criminal Conduct and Cyberbullying Laws
Fortunately, the federal government have made significant efforts to bring about legislative change that criminalise cyberbullying and provide remedies to the victimised. Under the Canadian federal legislation, the Criminal Code establishes numerous provisions that can effectively assist in addressing cyberbullying. According to the Criminal Code section 162.1, which came into effect in 2015, sharing intimate images of other people without their consent is an offence (Parliament of Canada, n.d.). Section 162.1 (2) defines an intimate image as an image that depicts a person’s sexual organ, breasts, or anal region or expresses a person in a sexually compromising situation (Parliament of Canada, n.d.). Sharing of such an image qualifies for litigation if the persons depicted in them recognise it as private. This code is vital in addressing sexual harassment which is the most common form of cyberbullying. The Criminal Code also outlines other criminal provisions that are directly relatable to cyberbullying. Sections 264 to 319 addressed criminal provisions on harassment, intimidation, false, indecent, or harassing messages or calls, incitement, defamatory libel, and extortion which are common defining words in cyberbullying (Public Safety Canada, 2018). These provisions of the Canadian Criminal Code apply to all.
The provisions of the Criminal Code are backed up by Bill C-13, an Anti-cyberbullying Law. According to Justice Minister Peter Mackay, the law, first introduced in 2013 and passed in 2015, is a response to the increasing rate of online harassment since it makes it illegal to distribute other people’s intimate images without their consent (Puzic, 2015). The law recognises that the use of online platforms has seen a spike in cyberbullying, especially among young people and that there is need to promote personal integrity when it comes to sharing contents on the online platforms (Puzic, 2015). Bill C-13, officially known as the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act (PCOCA), recognises cyberbullying as sharing another person’s embarrassing or intimidating photos, sending deceitful or threatening messages that might compromise the state of a person, a pretence that lead to impersonation, and trickery (Parliament of Canada, n.d.). The scope of this law is wide enough to cover cyberbullying as inappropriate and illegal behaviour.
Just like any other law, the breach of the mentioned sections of the Canadian Criminal Code and Bill C-13 has consequences. Upon conviction for cyberbullying-related crimes, the Criminal Code provides that a person shall be imprisoned for up to five years, their communication devices shall be seized, and an order to reimburse the victim for the harm caused by the cyberbullying act shall be initiated (Parliament of Canada, n.d.). Cyberbullies who make their victims develop fear for their safety or safety of people around them can also be arraigned with criminal harassment and serve a jail term of up to 10 years (Parliament of Canada, n.d.). A recent example of the consequences of the law is R vs A.C. (Ontario Court of Justice, 2017). in which the accused pleaded guilty of sharing intimate images of the victim without consent. The accused shared the images in more than one website, exposing them to the world and appeared unremorseful and nonapologetic in court. Upon conviction, the accused was sentenced to five months in prison and an additional 12 months’ probation term. Such punishments are adequate for cyberbullies.
In addition to the federal legislation, almost all Canadian provinces have legal provisions that add to the adequate address of cyberbullying. Each of the provinces has a different definition of cyberbullying but unanimously agree on the absence of consent. The legal approaches that the provinces have on cyberbullying are summarised by Canada’s health relationship hub known as Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network (2019). A perfect case study is Nova Scotia’s Intimate Images and Cyber-protection Act (IICPA) which is an addition to the Cyber-Safety Act (Nova Scotia Legislature, 2017). The Act provides that a person shall be liable of cyberbullying if they create blogs, webpages, or profiles in which they impersonate another person without that person’s consent, disclose sensitive information that contravenes another person’s confidence, threatens or intimidates another person, send or share grossly indecent information or makes false allegations about another person (Nova Scotia Legislature, 2017). According to the Act, the accused can be convicted if he or she recklessly engaged in the above acts knowing that the other person did not provide consent (Nova Scotia Legislature, 2017). As the court deems reasonable, the convict can be demanded to pull down intimidating contents of the other person shared without consent and pay punitive damages. If a person contravenes such orders, he or she can be fined up to $5,000 or face six months imprisonment or both (Nova Scotia Legislature, 2017). There is no need for any further laws if provinces have such stern legal provisions on the behaviour.
The Canadian jurisprudence is also making positive steps towards addressing cyberbullying. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice exemplifies such efforts. The court created a tort which is referred to as “public disclosure of embarrassing private facts.” According to the tort, a person becomes liable to the other for invading his or her privacy if the content shared to the public is highly invasive to a rational person and does not concern the public in any way (Backman, 2016). The tort also recognises that such invasion presents potential social, physical, and mental impacts on the plaintiff (Backman, 2016). Therefore, in addition to considering cyberbullying purely as a criminal act, the court also identifies it as a tort in which the victimised can personally raise a cause of action against the invader. The court sets the pace for adapting common law principles in addressing issues that come with modernity. Such jurisprudent responses also confirm that the Canadian legal and judicial components are making sufficient efforts to address cyberbullying.
The Supplementing Role of Schools, Parents, and The Society
It is important to note that cyberbullying is a social concern that cannot be resolved by laws alone irrespective of the number of laws enacted. The efforts of schools, parents, and society at large counts considerably. Young people spend most of their day is school suggesting that schools should not be left out in the efforts to address the undesired behaviour. A study that was done by Li (2010) on the prevalence of cyberbullying in Canadian high schools found that over 80% of students victimised by cyberbullying would not report such incidences to school authorities. Some reasons determined by researcher included lack of confidence in schools to stop it, lack of concern of school staffs to listen to, understand, and believe their students, possibility of getting into more trouble instead of finding a solution, and likelihood that other students would make fun of the person who reports such incidences (Li, 2010). The research identified the need for schools to educate students and parents about cyberbullying, take possible steps to prevent it, and provide the necessary support to the victimised (Li, 2010). Such school efforts are necessary for complimenting the available laws.
Social media platforms, among other online communication sites, can also contribute to addressing cyberbullying by drawing a clear line between freedom of speech and personal privacy. Most of the social platforms are already leading to this change. Numerous social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter, already have antibullying policies and features to block and report contents that they deem inappropriate (Daniele, 2018). However, there are still insufficient efforts toward deterring the sharing of such contents (Daniele, 2018). The representatives of social media companies have always held that besides the features and policies that enable users to block inappropriate contents, cyberbullying is a behavioural phenomenon that they cannot stop (Milosevic, 2016). As such platforms still provide a venue for the behaviour to thrive if not promoting it. There is a need for such platforms to take cyberbullying more seriously and establish technologically intelligent responses.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the increasing rates of cyberbullying cannot be blamed on inadequate laws to cover this type of behaviour. Canada, through federal and provincial legislation, have sufficient and explicitly elaborate laws necessary in addressing cyberbullying. At the federal level, this paper has identified the Criminal Code and Bill C-13 as explicit laws that cover all aspects of cyberbullying. Provincial legislations have also led to numerous laws that address the behaviour as exemplified by Nova Scotia’s Intimate Images and Cyber-protection Act (IICPA). Jurisprudential progress made by provincial courts concerning the behaviour has also been covered. From the analysis, instead of placing the full weight on law, schools, parents, and social media platforms should be encouraged to take up their roles in minimising the potential impacts of cyberbullying.
References
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