Canada: Rights commission rejects calls to stop investigating online hate

Rights commission rejects calls to stop investigating online hate: Report to
Parliament says both the criminal code and the Canadian Human Rights Act
should be used
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/rights-commission-rejects-calls-to-stop-investigating-online-hate/article1176859/>

Canada's Human Rights Commission has rejected suggestions that it stop
investigating hate messages on the Internet, saying the issue shouldn't be
left solely to the Criminal Code.

In a report to Parliament obtained by The Globe and Mail, the commission
argues that both the criminal code and the Canadian Human Rights Act should be
used to deal with the promotion of hate. The issue has become a lightning rod,
with critics, and some MPs and media outlets arguing that the commission's
role in looking into hate complaints on the Internet should be ended because
it threatens the right to free speech.

In its report, the commission also recommends that people who are the subject
of frivolous complaints be awarded costs, and that the commission should leave
the imposing of fines to the criminal courts.

"Hate on the Internet is part of a broader pattern of hatred, prejudice and
discrimination in Canada," the report says. "While Canada is one of the most
tolerant of nations, discrimination continues to exist."

--snip--

"Some have argued that exposing mainstream media organizations to possible
commission complaints is inconsistent with Canada's commitment to freedom of
the press that is expressly protected in ... the [Charter of Rights and
Freedoms,]" the report says.

"However ... freedom of the press is not an absolute value and cannot be
exercised in isolation from other rights and freedoms."

--snip--