Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act

rdf:langString Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act

rdf:langString Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act was a provision of the Canadian Human Rights Act dealing with hate messages. The provision prohibited online communications which were "likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt" on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination (such as race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, etc.). Complaints under this section were brought to the Canadian Human Rights Commission and if the Commission found sufficient evidence, the case would be heard by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. The provision was used successfully in several cases against white supremacists, anti-Semitic, and neo-Nazi groups. However, it was repealed by the Parliament of Canada in June 2014, following a Canada-wide campaign when a group of young Muslim law students, for the first time in Canada, used the human rights system to challenge alleged Islamophobia by right-wing columnists, including Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn. The Ontario Court of Appeal would describe the campaign in libel proceedings against Ezra Levant in relation to events that took place from 2007 in Awan v. Levant.