Ottawa’s latest plot twist has free speech advocates on edge, as whispers of a revived Bill C-63, coined the Online Harms Bill, swirl.

The Democracy Fund (TDF) is sounding the alarm, warning that the government’s renewed push to regulate online speech could usher in a chilling era of censorship.

📷UPDATE: TDF expresses concern about possible new censorship bill

The government is considering reintroducing the Online Harms Bill.

Ottawa: The Democracy Fund is concerned that the government intends to re-introduce the previously abandoned Online Harms Bill in the same or… pic.twitter.com/XywRVGCwE9

— The Democracy Fund (@TDF_Can) July 4, 2025

Last year, Bill C-63 sparked outrage with its vague crackdown on “harmful content,” thinly veiled in noble aims like curbing child exploitation and terrorism – crimes already addressed by Canada’s existing laws.

The bill’s murky definitions and draconian fines for social media platforms smelled more like a power grab than a public safety win. It would’ve turned Big Tech into speech police, silencing voices under the threat of hefty penalties.

Rodney Ghali, Assistant Secretary to Cabinet @ Impact & Innovation Unit at Canada's Privy Council, thinks that behavioral science is an important policy tool, says misinformation is a symptom of distrust in government

Censorship doesn't uphold democracy, https://t.co/T1ZAS1uTQi pic.twitter.com/pzLJrHfmvc

— Tamara Ugolini 🇨🇦 (@TamaraUgo) January 24, 2023

When Parliament was prorogued earlier this year, by then-prime minister Justin Trudeau on January 6, C-63 bit the dust.

But now the Mark Carney Liberals are teasing a sequel.

TDF Litigation Director Mark Joseph isn’t buying the remake. “There are laws in place that the government can, and does, use to address most of the bad conduct that the Bill ostensibly targeted,” he said.

“To the extent that there are gaps in the Criminal Code, amendments should be carefully drafted to fix this. However, the previous Bill C-63 sought to implement a regime of mass censorship. TDF is concerned that the government will try once more to give itself the power to criminalize and punish online speech and debate. TDF will oppose that."

UNESCO has unveiled global online censorship guidance

Unelected “free expression” chief Guilherme Canela says that we must invest in these guidelines because of democracy, but also if people don’t “vaccine themselves” it will cost public health systemshttps://t.co/T1ZAS1vrFQ pic.twitter.com/zHvptXdn2j

— Tamara Ugolini 🇨🇦 (@TamaraUgo) November 7, 2023

Joseph’s warning is clear: the government’s obsession with controlling speech risks trampling the very freedoms that define a democracy. The Minister of Justice claims he’s just “taking another look,” but civil rights advocates are concerned that this is code for looming mass surveillance and state-sanctioned silencing.

With the original bill’s broad strokes painting “harmful” as whatever the government dislikes, Canadians could face a future where dissent is a crime.

Will Canada’s online town square remain a place for open debate, or will it morph into a government-monitored echo chamber?

Please donate to help Rebel News fight back against the Liberal government's draconian censorship regime!

The Liberals still say they’re committed to bringing in censorship. Bill C-63 would create unprecedented censorship agencies, investigate your online posts, and even impose hate speech restraining orders before words are spoken. Rebel News has fought censorship in courts across Canada, spending over $500,000 on free speech lawyers this year alone. To protect freedom of speech, we’re ready to challenge this law the moment it passes. If you believe in standing up to this censorship, please chip in to our legal defence fund and join the 75,000+ Canadians who have signed our petition. We have to fight this — if we don’t, the law will be used to silence us, and to silence you, too.

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