Bullying, including cyberbullying, is a form of aggression, usually among children and youth but not always. When the bullying behaviour occurs via electronic means, it is often referred to as cyberbullying.
Bullying, including cyberbullying, can take many forms. Some forms, such as name-calling, teasing, belittling and social exclusion, are common and may be hurtful but are not criminal offences. However, bullying and cyberbullying conduct can escalate to more serious activities that are criminal offences under the Criminal Code, including criminal harassment (section 264), uttering threats (section 264.1), intimidation (subsection 423(1)), mischief in relation to data (subsection 430(1.1)), unauthorized use of a computer (section 342.1), identity fraud (section 403), extortion (section 346), false messages, indecent or harassing telephone calls (section 372), counselling suicide (section 241), incitement of hatred (section 319), child pornography (section 163.1), and defamatory libel (sections 298-301).
More recently, a new form of cyberbullying has emerged that is not covered by the criminal law. It involves the distribution of intimate (sexual) images without the consent of the person depicted in the image. Sometimes the motivation is to take revenge on a former partner (this is sometimes colloquially referred to as “revenge porn”). Young people are increasingly exchanging intimate images consensually. This may become a problem if those images later become fodder for humiliating cyberbullying attacks involving non-consensual distribution
Bullies have been around throughout history, but the widespread use of new communications technologies increases the potential impact of bullying behaviour. Bullies can now expand their audience from the schoolyard to around the globe. Once the bullying conduct is in cyberspace, it may be permanently available over the Internet, where it can spread quickly and often uncontrollably. This may compound feelings of fear, humiliation, and social isolation and have other negative effects on victims. There have been several reported cases of teen suicide where cyberbullying is alleged to have played a part.
At their October 2012 meeting, Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers responsible for Justice and Public Safety directed senior officials to identify potential gaps in the Criminal Code on cyberbullying and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images. The results of that review were published in a report in July 2013. The report concluded that a multi-pronged approach was needed to address cyberbullying. In addition to education, public awareness, and family and community support, the report recommended that theCriminal Code be amended to address certain gaps in the law and give law enforcement officers better tools to deal with the issue.
In November 2013, the federal Minister of Justice introduced Bill C-13, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act. This Bill proposes several Criminal Code amendments to address bullying, including cyberbullying, more effectively. These proposed amendments are based largely on recommendations in the working group’s report.
For example, the Bill proposes to:
- Create a new Criminal Code offence prohibiting the distribution of intimate images of a person without that person’s consent;
- Empower a court to order the removal of intimate images from the Internet;
- Permit a court to order forfeiture of the computer, cell phone or other device used in the offence;
- Permit the reimbursement to victims, upon conviction of the accused, for costs incurred in removing the intimate image from the Internet or elsewhere; and
- Empower a court to make an order to prevent someone from distributing intimate images.
For purposes of the Criminal Code, “intimate image” would be defined as an image that depicts a person engaged in explicit sexual activity or that depicts a sexual organ, anal region or breast. Further, the image would be one for which, at the time of the recording, the person depicted had a reasonable expectation of privacy and, at the time of the offence, had not relinquished his or her privacy interest.
The proposed amendments to the Criminal Code would also modernize existing investigative powers to enable police to obtain electronic evidence from the Internet and other new technologies more efficiently and effectively. However, nothing in this Bill would require a person to provide the police with information without an appropriate level of judicial oversight. See Backgrounder: Modernizing the Criminal Code,for more information on the proposed investigative measures.
Bullying is also being addressed through non-legislative means, including education, awareness and prevention activities. This reflects the fact that bullying is a social problem that needs comprehensive responses from schools, non-government organizations, the police, and community groups. For example:
- The Government is currently supporting the development of a number of school-based projects to prevent bullying, as part of $10 million that was committed in 2012 towards new crime prevention projects.
- Through the Government’s GetCyberSafe campaign, Canadians can get the information they need to protect themselves and their families against online threats, including cyberbullying.
- The Government also supports the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, which operates Cybertip.ca and NeedHelpNow.ca, websites that Canadians can use to report online sexual exploitation of children and to seek help for exploitation resulting from the sharing of sexual images.
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Department of Justice Canada
December 2013
