Government listens to successful online campaigns
By April Alayon
When I first read the news about Bill C-30 being thrown out by the Supreme Court, I was overjoyed. Bill C-30 is the Conservative government’s attempt to strip you of your privacy rights by requiring telecommunications service providers to disclose any subscriber information without a warrant. Bill C-30 was vetoed by the government due to a large opposition from Canadians who believe that the bill is more of a violation of privacy rights than a tool to speed up law enforcement investigations. How did Canadians voice their right to privacy and free expression?
Through online petitions. This is a historic milestone in Canada. It proves that grassroots campaigns and online petitions can be very effective if they receive country-wide support and doggedly press the government. Bill C-30 is officially the Protecting Children from Internet
Predators Act. This is a misnomer. Protecting children from internet predators is not even the purpose of the act. It has more to do with unauthorized surveillance than actual protection for children.
The fear around this act being passed stemmed from the uncertainty over which of the authorized individuals would be able to access information and how they would be able to use this private information. OpenMedia asked Canadian citizens to stand up for their rights and started the stopspying.ca campaign, which generated huge support to bring down the bill. Pushing the bill to pass, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews accused those who refused to support this bill as supporters of child pornography. This was a feeble maneuver.
It was June 2011 when the campaigns went viral among Canadian’s social network news feeds. Videos against the bill were produced and national TV news started paying attention. It was also reported by CBC that the constant and determined campaign by OpenMedia gave weight to the
political engagement.
Remember SOPA and PIPA? Back in 2011, Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Property Act were attempted to be passed by the US law to lay down censorship on the Internet. Both acts were not passed due to huge online protests that took place. Social media is just a tool, but it’s becoming more evident that it is a powerful tool that can unite a huge country and change policies. I was once skeptical of methods like collecting of signatures and online petitions. I used to believe that no court would take it seriously, but recent events involving widespread outcry of the citizens being highlighted by social media and led by grassroots campaigns gave me faith that we are still in charge of our government. All we need it to stick together and voice it out.
One last thing: if you took part in this campaign by even just signing a petition online, give yourself a high five!
