If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. A Liberal Party senator is pushing for a legislative comeback of a contentious online speech bill that once stalled in Parliament, opening the door to renewed debates over censorship and state control of digital platforms in Canada. Senator Kristopher Wells, who joined the Senate in 2024 following an appointment by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has voiced support for reviving Bill C-63. The proposed law, formally titled the Online Harms Act, failed to advance before the most recent federal election brought the last session of Parliament to an end. Now, with Mark Carney leading a Liberal government that has pledged to stay the course on Trudeau’s legislative agenda, the bill may be poised for resurrection. Speaking in the Senate, Wells referenced the shelved bill, saying, “In the last Parliament, the government proposed important changes to the Criminal Code of Canada designed to strengthen penalties for hate crime offenses.” Billed as a child protection initiative, Bill C-63 faced backlash for bundling that goal with provisions that would allow state regulators to target online content the government deemed offensive or hateful, a term left ill-defined in the text. Rather than limiting itself to illegal speech, the bill sought to penalize material “likely to foment detestation or vilification” based on characteristics like race, religion, and gender. The Canadian Human Rights Commission would have been responsible for handling complaints, a move that alarmed many observers who viewed the measure as a means to bypass due process. Although it never made it to a final vote, Wells insisted the bill’s intentions were sound. “I believe Canada must get tougher on hate and send a clear and unequivocal message that hate and extremism will never be tolerated in this country no matter who it targets,” he said. Wells questioned whether the current Carney-led government intended to reintroduce legislation modeled on Bill C-63 and whether it would work “with interested senators and community stakeholders to make the changes needed to ensure this important legislation is passed.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post The Censorship Bill That Wouldn’t Die Returns to Haunt Canadians appeared first on Reclaim The Net.