Sunday, April 27, 2025

A new law was introduced Wednesday that will make it a crime to distribute intimate images without the consent of the person in the pictures. The law stems from the federal government’s attempt to help combat cyberbullying. Sean Leathong followed the announcement and has more.

The law could mean that any compromising photo’s, whether they be taken on a night out with friends, or serupticiously without a persons knowledge cannot be shared on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram without that persons explicit permission.

The law is believed to be inspired by cases like that of Nova Scotia teen Rehteah Parsons. She committed suicide this past spring after some compromising photo’s were released, and she was mocked by classmates. Two people have been arrested and charged with child pornography. This law is meant to prevent crimes like this in the future as Justice Minister Peter MacKay said in Ottawa Wednesday afternoon: “Too many families across this country have experienced the devastating effects of cyberbullying. Canadians have demanded action, and today, we have delivered. When bullying reaches the level of criminal behaviour we need to ensure that our laws can address it, and we need to make sure that young victims of cyberbullying move us to action.”

We spoke with Alex Sevingy, a commuincations expert at McMaster. He says that this is a good first step, but implementation may be a bit tricky: “Implementation and enforcement are realy going to be key with this. And also education, making sure the public knows what is expected, and having individuals know what is ok and what crosses the line. And that’s going to be a major adjustment for a lot of people over the next couple of years after this legislation comes into place.”

He reintorated that fact that this was a good first step at preventng things like this from happening in the future. But the bill does still have to pass.