Cyberbullying In Canada

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Technology evolves and advances as the times change. It has the potential to improve the lives of people by being a powerful communication tool - the Internet. However, when the Internet is misused and abused, it is flawed with frequent cyberbullying. It is a form of bullying with the use of technology and has been increasingly common. It is a moral imperative for Canada to deal with this phenomenon as it can greatly impact individuals. In fact, 81% of young people think bullying online is easier to get away with than bullying in person, according to DoSomething.org. Bullies use technology to harass, threaten, embarrass or target another person and can devastate the victim with lifetime consequences. Bullies are often protected by anonymity …show more content…

In the Canadian Civil Law, defamation is closely related to cyberbullying. Defamation is harm caused to a person’s reputation because the cyberbully spreads false information. Separated into two different kinds, they are slander and libel. Slander is a temporary, not-recorded kind of cyberbullying, such as threatening and harassing on the phone. This type of defamation is extremely hard to prove as there is often lack of proof. Oppositely, libel is a permanent and recorded cyberbullying, such as publications on websites, social media or text messages. On the other hand, the Criminal Law has categorized cyberbullying in harassment and defamatory libel. Harassment is the crime when a cyber bully makes another person feel threatened for his or her safety and safety of others. If convicted, a prison sentence up to ten years can be given. The latter is charged against a person when an authority is attacked and their reputation is severely harmed. However, the freedom of expression under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 2 is balanced against the Section 7 right to life, liberty and security of the person. The balance determines whether a conviction for criminal defamatory libel is made. For this type of crime, a prison sentence up to five years can be given. There are different types of cyberbullying, different consequences and punishments can be given if cyberbullying is

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