ANALYSIS: StatCan’s Alarming Numbers on Youth Exposed to Online ‘Hate’ Tell a Different Story Upon Closer Examination
Published on February 29, 2024
About 70 percent of Canadian youth have been exposed to online hate, says a Statistics Canada report released the day after the Liberal government tabled its Online Harms Act aimed at the problem. The alarmingly high number suggests Bill C-63 has arrived just in time to address a widespread problem, but a closer look at the StatCan survey questions tells another story. “Hate” is in the eye of the beholder. Survey participants were given no guidance on what “hate” means, and sociologist David Haskell says young people are increasingly taught to perceive hate in comments previously considered offensive, but not truly harmful or “hateful.”...