Marco Mendicino assures that government is 'leaning in' on censorship bill

The Canadian Press / Fred Chartrand

• By David Menzies

PETITION: Fire Marco Mendicino

Liberal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino must resign for falsely claiming that police asked the federal government to invoke the Emergencies Act in February following the Freedom Convoy protests that took place in Ottawa.

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Yesterday on August 29, Ottawa held a news conference where federal ministers gave the public an update on wait times involving government services like busy airports, and they even touched base on censoring online content.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino spoke about censoring what is posted on social media, and assured the public that the government is "leaning in on this and will bring forward the legislation as quickly as possible."

The government is 'leaning in' on a censorship bill.

"I assure you that Minister Rodriguez and others within our government are leaning in on this and will bring forward the legislation as quickly as possible," said Marco Mendicino.

Full Report: https://t.co/5iaelyv6XO pic.twitter.com/sAgqPCvZk7

— Tabitha 💀 (@tabithapeters05) August 30, 2022

In a clip from CPAC, Mendicino said:

I just want to assure you that we're also engaging with law enforcement to ensure that the appropriate frameworks and protocols are in place. And I know that Minister Rodriguez is very eager to bring forward his legislation so that legislatively the tools are there as well. You know, I've been very outspoken about this before online, that we need social media to step up.

We need to see all of the big social media players keep up their end of the bargain when it comes to being transparent about how they're ensuring compliance with their own standards so that living online can be as safe as in our communities. And that has to be a critical piece to this puzzle. So I assure you that Minister Rodriguez and others within our government are leaning in on this and will bring forward the legislation as quickly as possible.

According to Blacklock's Reporter:

Any legislation must “ensure that people can have robust free speech” but “also delineate some clear boundaries on what is not acceptable,” said Mendicino. Hate speech is illegal in Canada under 1970 amendments to the Criminal Code.

...

Free speech advocates, academics and human rights groups called the proposal “aggressive,” “punitive” and “disturbing.” The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab said federal regulation was so sweeping it would quash political dissent.

Please sigh out petition at stopthecensorship.ca.