Canada Bans Sex Offenders From The Web

The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that judges may ban convicted sex offenders from using the Internet. The July 22 ruling may also be applied retroactively.

“The record demonstrates that the internet is increasingly being used to sexually offend against young people and that sex offenders who target children are more likely to re-offend,” Canadian Supreme Court Justice Andromache Karakatsanis wrote in the Court’s majority opinion, reports Yahoo.

“The rate of technological change over the past decade has fundamentally altered the social context in which sexual crimes can occur,” the ruling continued. “[M]onitoring an offender’s use of the internet can limit an offender’s opportunity to offend and prevent this harmful behavior.”

In 2012, Canada’s Conservative government passed the Safe Streets and Communities Act, which imposed a ban on Internet usage for sexual predators, reports the Toronto Star. The new law addressed websites like Facebook and Twitter, dating apps like Tinder, and other social media tools like Snapchat and Instagram, that did not exist when previous criminal codes were written.

“These new online services have given young people – who are often early adopters of new technologies – unprecedented access to digital communities,” Karakatsanis said. “At the same time, sexual offenders have been given unprecedented access to potential victims and avenues to facilitate sexual offending.”

“[The courts] have to think a little bit differently about whether they can impose a particular consequence of crime retroactively because we have a new direction from the court that says not only do you have to think about whether something is punitive or protective, you have to think about its impact on the liberty and security of the offender,” Laura Track of the British Colombia Canadian Civil Liberties Association told Vice News. “I think the court was looking to be sensitive to [the reality of new risks posed to children by the internet,] but they’ve also gone a long way to clarify the test and the questions a court has to ask when considering whether something is punishment.”

Sources: Yahoo, Vice News, Toronto Star / Photo Credit: Hillary / Flickr