CRTC Denies Request To Block Hate Site

excerpt: This letter constitutes the Commission's decision with respect to the application dated 22 August 2006 filed on behalf of Richard Warman seeking, among other things, interim Commission approval under section 36 of the Telecommunications Act (the Act) to allow Canadian carriers to block the following two websites: http://www.overthrow.com and http://dossiernoir.blogspot.com/ (the Application). The Applicant submitted that the web sites in question constitute offences of communicating hate and of advocating genocide, under the Criminal Code . The Applicant provided excerpts of the web sites and an affidavit by Bernie Farber, a court qualified expert on hate crimes, in support of his view that the web sites in question violate the Criminal Code . The Applicant further submitted the web sites in question, in posting his home address along with repeated exhortations that he (and all Jews) be killed, have caused him to fear for his personal safety. The Applicant further argued that the sites are a gross invasion of his privacy and are defamatory in the extreme in that they impute false beliefs to him about the seriousness of sexual assault. The Applicant stated that due to the need to prevent the ever increasing possibility of personal harm to himself and the community at large as the result of the web sites in question, the relief has been requested in two parts: ex parte interim approval to permit carriers that are willing and able to do so to block the sites, followed by a broader public proceeding to grant final approval. The Applicant stated that there is a likelihood that one or more larger ISPs are willing to block access to these sites once Commission consent is obtained. Commission determinations Section 36 of the Act states as follows: Except where the Commission approves otherwise, a Canadian carrier shall not control the content or influence the meaning or purpose of telecommunications carried by it for the public. The Commission considers that the Application raises an extremely serious issue and has examined the Application very carefully. The Commission notes, however, that it is a creature of statute and can only exercise the powers granted to it by Parliament. The Commission notes that section 36 of the Act would not allow it to require Canadian carriers to block the web sites; rather, under section 36 of the Act, the Commission has the power to permit Canadian carriers to control the content or influence the meaning or purpose of telecommunications it carries for the public. The scope of this power has yet to be explored. Click here to read the CRTC's full decision.

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