The same legislation that was announced shortly after the death of Rehtaeh Parsons.
Also, changes to the Education Act:
[quote]Also announced Wednesday were changes to the provincial Education Act, which will clarify the roles of principals when the issue affects schools. Principals now have a more clear responsibility to respond, even to incidents that occur off of school grounds and after school hours.
The CyberSCAN Unit, the first of its kind in Canada, is the final piece of the new Cyberbullying Act.
Roger Merrick, the unit's director, is hiring five investigators who will look into all complaints of cyberbullying, whether the victim is a minor or an adult. That unit is expected to be up and running next month.
"We've all been affected by cyberbullying, whether it has happened to us or someone we know or we've just seen it online," said Chantel O'Brien, a member of the province's Youth Advisory Council.
"These amendments will be a wake-up call to those who think they can hide behind a computer to avoid being held accountable. It's reassuring to see the government taking action to ensure youth can feel safe in their own homes."
Wayne MacKay, a law professor at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and the chair of the province’s task force on cyberbullying, expressed the need for caution after the new legislation was first announced in April.
He said the legislation needs some finessing to ensure it works by including three components: education, changing the laws and preventing cyberbullying by teaching young people about how to be responsible online citizens.
"Any study looking at cyberbullying suggests you can't simply demonize the bullies and say they should be sent off to some island somewhere and they're a separate species," he said.
"Sometimes the bystanders become the bullies, sometimes the victims become the bullies, the line between all of it is quite complicated and that's one of the reasons in the report — and the government has followed through on some of this — we've stressed restorative approaches where possible."
The province has also committed to an independent review by out-of-province experts into the Public Prosecutions Service and police actions in the Rehtaeh Parsons case. The review will begin after the criminal investigation is complete.[/quote]
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Edited by Aporia: 8/8/2013 1:11:00 AM>2013 >"Cyber"
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Edited by Dudley Tiddywink: 8/8/2013 1:39:48 AMWell going off all the replies thus far, it seems my choice of topic tags were appropriate. You guys know this law isn't intended to combat random nerds talking shit to each other on the internet, right? You can still call each other dick munchers and have passionate arguments about Halo tie-in novels, the NSPD probably doesn't care. The legislation in question is intended as a response to cases like Rehtaeh Parsons (and similar situations across the country), IE actual harassment, not some random neckbeard calling you a niggerfaggot on omegle.
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Edited by Magical Robot: 8/8/2013 1:24:04 AMSeriously? Someone calls me butt head, I call them poop face, and we both go live our lives completely unchanged. And how would this work for the "cyber bullies" in other countries? If I were to call a Canadian "Maple syrup" and he were to call out his police, what would they do about me? I live in Alaska, I am out of their jurisdiction.
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Cyber bullying is stupid and easily stopped. Seriously the guy calling you a -blam!- is probably an obese man in his 30s living in his mothers basement.
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... stupid limeys... Why do you keep pussifying your province....
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Good god is it really that hard to block someone who is harassing you online?
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lolcyberbullying.
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Edited by Faux Noise: 8/7/2013 10:14:05 PMOh Jesus, is it really that hard to use the block button?
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Kids are too damn sheltered these days. All it takes is for somebody to say "drink bleach, fggt" for a child to commit suicide. I was victim to REAL bullying when a kid, as in somebody had the balls to come face to face and say/do something to you. Guess what? Standing up to them and giving them a good punch in the face did wonders and people started to leave me alone. "Bullying" today is not even bullying, just extremely bad trolling resulting from people hiding behind a computer. Don't like what somebody commented? Ignore it, block the person, and go on about your day.
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Wow what a bunch of pansies.
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Edited by iGraviton: 8/7/2013 10:40:06 PMKids are too sheltered and over-dramatic. Cyber-bullying is the most retarded thing in existence.
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We need this in the United States. I've been a victim and I know how it feels.
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[quote]"These amendments will be a wake-up call to those who think they can hide behind a computer to avoid being held accountable. It's reassuring to see the government taking action to ensure youth can feel safe in their own homes."[/quote]Somebody doesn't understand how the internet works.
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I'm loling so much at the state of the world in general. I'm just sitting here on my chair in the moonlight with sunglasses on laughing. feels good guys, feels good.
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Well this has gotten entirely out of hand.
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Good, especially the changes with the Education Act. If it's going on outside of school grounds, chances are it's going on during school hours and principles should be involved.