HALIFAX—The federal government is spending $4 million on a
television and Internet advertising campaign to raise awareness
about cyberbullying and the looming legal consequences of using
intimate images to torment people online.
Justice Minister Peter MacKay said the
Stop Hating Online campaign, launched Thursday at a school
in Halifax, will begin by explaining to parents how
cyberbullying can cross the line into criminal activity.
“This is about awareness,” he said in an interview. “It’s about
outreach and empowering young people to take responsibility for
their actions and understanding the consequences of hitting
‘send.’ ”
Next month, a second phase of the campaign will encourage youth
to take action against cyberbullying.
The
federal government introduced a bill in November that would
make it illegal to distribute “intimate images” without the
consent of the person depicted. The legislation would also give
courts the power to seize computers, cellphones and other
devices used in an offence, and help victims recoup part of the
cost of removing the images from the Internet.
The bill applies to adults and young people alike who become
targets for online harassment.
When he tabled the bill, MacKay said Canadians had been moved by
a number of recent cyberbullying suicides, including the death
of
Rehtaeh Parsons, the 17-year-old Halifax girl who died in
April after trying to kill herself.
Her family alleges she was sexually assaulted by four boys in
November 2011 and that a digital photo of the incident was
passed around her school, prompting months of harassment through
social media.
The RCMP looked into the allegations but initially concluded
there were no grounds to lay charges. However, they later
reopened the case after receiving new information, then charged
two teens in August with creating and distributing child
pornography.
Soon after the parents of Parsons made her suicide a public
issue, Prime Minister Stephen Harper stood in the House of
Commons and said: “We absolutely must speak out against the
notion that some people have that ‘anything goes’ on the
Internet.”
The issue quickly became part of the Conservative government’s
high-profile law-and-order agenda.
MacKay said Harper, the father of two teenagers, had taken a
keen interest in stamping out cyberbullying.
“I’ve noticed that he does become quite emotional, maudlin about
this,” MacKay said. “He becomes very introspective when it comes
to the impact that it has on someone’s life.”