Federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay had a candid discussion with students in Moncton on Tuesday. The topic? Cyberbullying.
The minister and the students discussed the new cyber laws protecting individuals, as well as the prosecution of those who break those laws.
“Honestly, as a teenager, cyberbullying probably happens every day because of Facebook. Someone's going to say something to someone on Facebook, they're going to message something, post something,” says student Jackson Wilbur.
New legislation, the Online Crime Act, came into effect last month. It is now a criminal offence to share an intimate image of a person without their consent.
“It took effect in March, so just about a month ago,” says MacKay. “We know there is activity that continues online that would fit this definition and I expect that you would see changes in the future that will test the constitutionality and the legislation.”
That's easier to do when it happens within Canadian borders. MacKay is also calling for increased levels of international cooperation in policing the internet.
“It is a very insidious and very challenging world in which we live and criminality that's happening in the virtual world is difficult to curtail, let alone bring about accountability or have the prosecutions actually take place in Canada,” he says.
MacKay’s mission was to inform students about their options when it comes to cyberbullying, but he says he also took something away from the conversation.
“I was really struck, as I have been in a number of classrooms across the country, by just how focused a lot of young people are on this issue.”
Focused enough to know they need to start looking out for each other.
“I think that's the biggest problem, is that nobody has the courage to step up and say ‘hey, you shouldn't be doing that,’” says student Megan Watson.
The students say speaking up is the first step to stopping online abuse.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Jonathan MacInnis
