The federal government is going to use television and online advertising to raise awareness about cyberbullying and the possible legal consequences of tormenting people.
Justice Minister Peter MacKay says the national campaign, created by Toronto agency Manifest Communications, he announced today at a school in Halifax is aimed at protecting children online.
The first phase of the campaign, called Stop Hating Online, includes television and online ads that focus on when cyberbullying amounts to criminal activity.
The federal government introduced a wide-ranging bill in November designed to make it illegal to distribute “intimate images” without consent and easier to get such images scrubbed off the internet.
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 find themselves targeted for online harassment or intimidation.
In introducing the bill, MacKay said Canadians have been touched 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 take her own life.
Police initially rejected demands to pursue the Parsons case, but eventually charged two teens in August with creating and distributing child pornography.
