The members of the Canadian Citizens’ Assembly on Democratic Expression represent every province and territory as well as the breadth of perspectives and diversity of Canada. The Assembly met for three virtual sessions and five in-person meetings between May and June 2022. Working in both official languages, the Assembly heard from more than a dozen recognized experts.

Through their deliberations, the Assembly identified seven values that should shape Canada’s approach to internet regulation and unanimously endorsed 43 recommendations which they believe will help to safeguard and strengthen our democracy and reduce Canadian’s exposure to online harms..

The Assembly identified seven values that should shape Canada’s approach to internet regulation and unanimously endorsed 43 recommendations which they believe will help to safeguard and strengthen our democracy while reducing the prevalence of online harms. The Assembly strongly believes that there are important and difficult trade-offs to weigh in avoiding over-regulation and censorship while protecting our social fabric and those members of our society most vulnerable to, or targeted by, online hate and harms. They believe that digital service providers as well as users of digital services all have a duty to act responsibly and should face penalties when they fail to do so. More concretely, the Assembly believes there ought to be a Digital Services Regulator (DSR), at arm’s length from government, tasked to establish standards for the safe operation of digital services, and enforce compliance. Alongside the DSR, the Assembly recommends an Ombudsperson’s Office to manage complaints, oversee a well resourced public education campaign to improve digital literacy and safe online practices, and provide resources for those seeking redress and/or healing.

Highlights of their recommendations include:

• Establish an arm’s length Digital Services Regulator to develop and enforce standards;

• Establish a Digital Ombudsperson’s Office to track complaints and publish periodic reports on issues of concern to Canadians;

• Label and severely limit the use of bots on social media platforms;

• Ensure that digital services providers conduct a wide range of risk assessments that demonstrate the safety of their services, with particular regard for impacts on children, marginalized groups, human rights, as well as emotional or psychological harms;

• Ensure that platform standards take into account regional contexts and culture;

• Create a voluntary, cross-platform system of verified users;

• Affirm the right of users to own their data and assert greater control over their online experience;

• Make significant investments in digital literacy and user awareness;

• Create a unique identifier system for online news that can help users confirm its validity and source.

Media inquiries? Contact Hannah Yakobi, Director of Communications, Public Policy Forum