What is fearmongering?
Fearmongering: the action of intentionally trying to make people afraid of something when this is not necessary or reasonable
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Proposed Bill: Criminalize fearmongering
CRIMINAL CODE 319(8)
Any individual that fearmongers publicly, on social media
is guilty of:
(a) an indictable offence and is liable to a $10 000 fine; or
(b) imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
DEFENSES 319(9)
No person shall be convicted of an offence under subsection (8):
(a) if he establishes that the statements communicated were true; or
(b) if the statements were relevant to any subject of public interest, the discussion of which was for the public benefit, and if on reasonable grounds he believed them to be true.
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How will this make an impact?
With the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the upcoming Monkeypox virus, there is a lot of fearmongering in the media which is severely affecting how the public views these issues. For example, many news outlets are fearmongering in regards to the Monkeypox virus, claiming that it is from gay men and only gay men can receive it. This has resulted in stigma toward gay men and people fearing and blaming them for the virus. When in reality, they are not the cause, nor the only ones being impacted by the virus.
With the number of crises that are occurring in today's day and age, a lot of fearmongers are getting the opportunity to spread fear and impact society for their own benefit. By putting this law in place, we can reduce the amount of fearmongering and ensure that society's ideologies and opinions are not clouded by 'fake news' which's only purpose is to scare them. At the end of the day, the goal of this law is to remove all types of 'fake news' from the media.
This law would fall under Legal Positivism. This law would get a lot of backlash and it infringes a crucial Charter right, however, it is extremely crucial. As a result, it might not be deemed the most moral to some, however, it must be followed as the law is the law and at the end of the day, this law will benefit marginalized groups tremendously.
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How will this be enforced?
If a video/article with fearmongering in it goes viral or is noticed by the Superior Court of Justice, they will sue the individual who created the media.
Showing that people will be punished for fearmongering is an attempt to reduce how many people fearmonger. If they notice that their actions have grave consequences, the expectation is that they will stop fearmongering, which would result in a decline, and eventual extinction, of fearmongering.
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Oakes Test
This law infringes section 2(b) of the Charter: freedom of expression.
The purpose of this law is pressing and substantial. As we enter a world with a lot of climate crises and new viruses, more marginalized groups are being attacked as a result of fearmongering. There was an all-time high of anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of fearmongering against the Asian population. Putting this law in place, will protect these vulnerable people from hate crimes and ensure a better quality of life for them.
This law is rationally connected to its purpose. The purpose of the law is to reduce the amount of fake news/fearmongering and protect marginalized groups that are negatively impacted as a result of fake news/fearmongering. This law is rationally connected to its purpose because by criminalizing fearmongering, we are doing exactly that: reducing the amount of fake news/fearmongering and protecting marginalized groups that are negatively impacted as a result of fake news/fearmongering.
This law minimally impairs the infringed right. This law only bans fearmongering on social media/public spaces. It allows people to fearmonger in private conversations. Alongside, it allows for people to make any other form of conversation on social media, in public spaces and in private. This law only bans people from making specific kinds of comments, thus minimally impairs the infringed right.
The positive effects of the law outweigh the negative effects of the infringement. Canada has a large group of marginalized peoples and protecting them is crucial - especially since we rely on them to advance our population. Protecting them outweighs all the negative effects of the infringement. Alongside, this law ensures that all Canadians are not given fake news and are not used by the media. It ensures we are well educated on matters which allow us to make decisions that we believe are best and that is not impacted by others.
Therefore, the infringement is justified.
