{"id":5351,"date":"2020-12-31T00:11:59","date_gmt":"2020-12-31T05:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=5351"},"modified":"2020-12-31T00:20:33","modified_gmt":"2020-12-31T05:20:33","slug":"5351","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=5351","title":{"rendered":"Government-funded Militant Anti-Free Speech Group, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network Wants Sec. 13 (Internet Censorship) Back"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"340\" src=\"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/censored-gag.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5353\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/censored-gag.jpg 720w, https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/censored-gag-300x142.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/censored-gag-500x236.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Government-funded Militant Anti-Free Speech Group, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network Wants Sec. 13 (Internet Censorship) Back<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hatemongers Don&#8217;t Face Serious Enough Consequences in Canadian Courts<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While  Canada has clear legal definitions of what does and does not constitute  hate speech, enforcement is lacking. In the cases when known peddlers  are actually brought before a judge, the trials are delayed, extended,  and lack consequences. It\u2019s time to bring back section 13.             Posted  on  December 30, 2020                    <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Elizabeth Simons&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Canadian Anti-Hate Network<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ik.progressivenation.ca\/antihate\/tr:q-70\/pages\/227\/attachments\/original\/1609353805\/photo-1589216532372-1c2a367900d9.jpg?1609353805\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/nSpj-Z12lX0\" target=\"_blank\">Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>We need to do away with the myth that hate and racism aren\u2019t \nissues in Canada, especially online. We produce hate speech and \ninternationally recognized hate figures at a disproportionately high \nrate &#8212; in many measures <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/technology\/canadian-right-wing-extremism-online-1.5617710\" target=\"_blank\">we\u2019re worse than the United States<\/a> on a per capita basis.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As it stands now, we do not have the legal tools needed to reverse this trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 4Chan, we represent almost 6% of posts made to the worst \nmessage board on the site, and earlier this year UK based think tank \nInstitute for Strategic Dialogue identified <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.isdglobal.org\/isd-publications\/canada-online\/\" target=\"_blank\">6,600 online channels<\/a> where Canadians posted hateful content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before we begin, let\u2019s quickly debunk the central bad faith \nargument against our hate speech laws. \u201cHate\u201d is not impossible to \ndefine or undefined &#8212; the Supreme Court has clearly <a href=\"https:\/\/scc-csc.lexum.com\/scc-csc\/scc-csc\/en\/item\/695\/index.do\">defined it<\/a> and endorsed a guide to determining <a href=\"https:\/\/scc-csc.lexum.com\/scc-csc\/scc-csc\/en\/item\/12876\/index.do\">what is and isn\u2019t criminal hate speech<\/a>. Our laws have been challenged and upheld by the Supreme Court as Charter consistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The laws strike a good balance between freedom of expression \nand criminalizing what is dangerous hate speech. Unfortunately, they \naren\u2019t enforced and they don\u2019t have sharp enough teeth to be a \ndeterrent. The very worst actors continue spreading hate largely with \nimpunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police services across Canada are the main roadblock. A few do \ntake it seriously and act, but most are reluctant in the extreme to \ninvestigate hate-related charges against individuals &#8212; whether that\u2019s \nhate speech, continuous harassment, and even death threats. Sometimes, \noverwhelming community pressure on the police works &#8212; but shouldn\u2019t be \nnecessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if the law is applied correctly, it\u2019s not strong enough to\n be a deterrent. Some hatemongers make a mockery of it and use the \nopportunity to grandstand.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>James Sears, the discredited former medical doctor who served as editor for Toronto-based <em>Your Ward News<\/em>,\n was sentenced to the maximum one year in prison in 2019 for promoting \nhatred against women and Jews. The crown proceeded with the charge as a \nsummary offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ontario Justice Richard Blouin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/your-ward-news-james-sears-sentenced-1.5256452\">wished he could hand down more<\/a>,\n saying at the time \u201cIt is impossible, in my view, to conclude that Mr. \nSears &#8230; should receive a sentence of any less than 18 months in \njail.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sears hasn\u2019t seen a day in jail yet. He was allowed to stay \nout, pending his argument that his lawyer misrepresented him by not \ngiving him an opportunity to deny the holocaust and call notorious \nantisemites as \u201cexpert witnesses.\u201d He regrets nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hate vlogger Kevin Johnston was initially charged with a single\n count of wilful promotion of hatred in 2017. Johnston has still not \nbeen tried. In 2019 he lost a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/kevin-johnston-paramount-2-5-million-mohamad-fakih-1.5134227\">$2.5 million judgment<\/a>\n to Toronto philanthropist Mohamad Fakih for his role in racially \nmotivated defamation against Fakih in which he repeatedly accused him of\n being a terrorist.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ontario Superior Court Justice Jane Ferguson called Johnston\u2019s attacks on Fakih \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/nationalpost.com\/news\/canada\/judge-awards-businessman-2-5-million-for-suffering-hate-speech-at-its-worst\">hate speech at its worst<\/a>.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Travis Patron, leader of the overtly neo-Nazi federal Canadian Nationalist Party, has been \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/rcmp-hate-elections-canada-canadian-nationalist-party-1.5193358\">under investigation<\/a>\u201d\n by the RCMP for over a year for a video in which he claimed Jews are a \n\u201cparasitic tribe\u201d and called for their expulsion from Canada. Patron \ncontinues to make antisemitic posts and flyers and do photo ops giving \nthe Nazi salute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s an open and shut case. What could possibly make it take this long to lay charges?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2018, a warrant was issued for Gabriel Sohier Chaput, aka Zeiger &#8212; called <a href=\"https:\/\/montrealgazette.com\/news\/local-news\/alt-right-in-montreal-efforts-to-unmask-key-neo-nazis-make-waves\">one of the most prominent neo-Nazis in North America<\/a>, and writer with <em>The Daily Stormer<\/em>,\n a white supremacist website &#8212; for spreading hatred. Having been on the\n run for two years, in August 2020 Chaput reappeared and is <a href=\"https:\/\/montrealgazette.com\/news\/local-news\/alleged-neo-nazi-appears-in-front-of-judge-at-montreal-courthouse\">awaiting trial<\/a> in Montreal.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chaput is one of the ideological leaders of the newest \ngeneration of neo-Nazi terrorists &#8212; his hands are soaked in blood. It\u2019s\n a travesty that the most he\u2019s likely to get is a year. It\u2019s uncertain \nwhether he will even spend it in prison, given the pandemic.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neo-Nazi Paul Fromm was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/nexymw\/two-canadian-neo-nazis-are-under-investigation-for-post-christchurch-acts\">under investigation<\/a>  by the Hamilton Police Service for posting the manifesto of the  Christchurch killer, titled \u201cThe Great Replacement\u201d &#8212; a nod to the  white supremacist conspiracy theory that white people are being replaced  &#8212;&nbsp; in full on his website in 2019. Fromm had stated, \u201c[The shooter\u2019s]  analysis of the crisis we face is cogent.\u201d*&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They decided not to charge him.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>British Columbia\u2019s Arthur Topham, convicted in 2015 of one \ncount of communicating online statements that wilfully promoted hatred \nagainst Jews, and again in 2017, had been sentenced to a six month \nconditional sentence, two years probation, a curfew, and was banned from\n posting online.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In early 2020, Topham was again before the courts for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/british-columbia\/bc-man-convicted-of-hate-crime-back-in-court-1.5460251\">breaching his probation order<\/a> and spreading online hate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of these people just won\u2019t stop &#8212; not as things are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our hate speech law,&nbsp; s. 319 (2), is crafted to balance freedom\n of expression while criminalizing the worst hate speech. Unfortunately,\n it\u2019s not a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.antihate.ca\/give_us_legal_and_ethical_tools_to_fight_online_hate_policy\">deterrent for the most vitriolic offenders<\/a> because the police won\u2019t enforce it, and some hate mongers laugh off the consequences.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It feels like we\u2019re banging our heads against the wall filing criminal complaints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before 2014, members of the public could file a hate speech \ncomplaint under s.13. Credible complaints went to the Human Rights \nTribunal, and a panel of judges could order hatemongers to stop. It was \nrelatively fast, gave communities the power to defend themselves \nlegally, and it worked. It gave us direct access to justice<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If they refused to stop, they were in violation of a standing \ncourt order and were relatively quickly thrown in jail. Eventually, most\n of them learned their lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this month we met with Heritage minister Steven \nGuilbeault and a number of social justice organizations to discuss \nlegislation surrounding online hate. We argued that reinstating s. 13 is\n fundamental to successfully dealing with the problem. We were joined by\n numerous voices in support of these measures &#8212; the Mosaic Institute, \nthe National Association of Friendship Centres, the Chinese Canadian \nNational Council for Social Justice, and others &#8212; and we are committed \nto a coalition to realize a better solution for today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every single anti-racist and human rights group we know of wants it back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bring it back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Follow Elizabeth Simons on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/esimons_\">@esimons_<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>_<strong>____* This viciously anti-free speech group utterly distorts my posting of the Christchurch Manifesto. Yes, I said his analysis of the dire position of Europeans, betrayed internally and being replaced by an elite-organized Third World invasion_was correct. BUT, and this is a huge BUT, I added that his solution &#8212; shooting up two mosques and killing 31 people was NOT the solution.__<\/strong>_______________________________________<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Government-funded Militant Anti-Free Speech Group, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network Wants Sec. 13 (Internet Censorship) Back Hatemongers Don&#8217;t Face Serious Enough Consequences in Canadian Courts While Canada has clear legal definitions of what does and does not constitute hate speech, enforcement &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=5351\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1768,1789,2874,2865,2869,2868,1043,2866,2872,2873,38,52,2871,1788,355],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5351"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5351"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5355,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5351\/revisions\/5355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}