Cabinet Shelves Disinformation Regulation Bill

The Cabinet has decided to not move forward with a bill aimed at regulating information on the internet “to combat serious forms of harmful online content,” acknowledging concerns over its constitutional validity. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, in a recent letter addressed to MPs, expressed the government’s stance to the Commons ethics committee following extensive consultations with Canadians and stakeholders, as first covered by Blacklock’s Reporter. “The Government heard from Canadians and stakeholders that while false and misleading information online can carry significant consequences, creating legislation and policies that restrict or otherwise limit speech based on the veracity of information would undermine freedom of expression to an unacceptable degree,” Mr. LeBlanc wrote....