By Alex Coley

New bill aims to crack down on cyber bullying

May 2, 2017 | 4:41 PM

MEDICINE HAT— A brand new bill which has been passed by Alberta legislature looks to solve a major issue when it comes to the privacy of internet and social media users. 

Bonnyville-Cold Lake Wildrose MLA Scott Cyr introduced Bill 202 back in March, and this past Monday, it was unanimously approved by members of all parties. The bill allows anyone whose intimate photos were displayed on the internet without their consent to seek damages and have better access to fair legal action when taking the issue to court. In addition, Bill 202 makes profiting from this kind of photo sharing illegal.

The bill was inspired by a similar act in Manitoba, but the difference between the two is that this bill allows school boards to expel or suspend students who partake in this sort of illegal activity. In the long run, Cyr is confident that it will allow school boards to be more consistent in how they deal with this kind of problem.

Cypress-Medicine Hat Wildrose MLA Drew Barnes says that the bill can only do good in Alberta.

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“Very, very seldom is a private member’s bill passed, and this one is going to be proclaimed, “says Barnes in a phone interview from Edmonton. “And of course it really shows where the conservative heart is. We care about our communities. We care about the growing, bullying, menacing, terrible problem of internet bullying and, you know, this bill would give a victim some recourse.”

According to Medicine Hat Police inspector Brent Secondiak, this issue is not uncommon in the Gas City.

“It’s quite often. we’ve had a few major occurrences here in Medicine Hat,” he said. “Last year we had a big incident at one of the local high schools where there were some intimate images taken and shared on a website that was located overseas and trying to dismantle those.

“They’re often used in frauds or people trying to extort other people. So very traumatic, it’s very traumatic for the victim, having those images shared on the internet.”

The bill was introduced in response to a large number of lawsuits in this scenario being unsuccessful. Now, if the bill receives royal assent, it will be much easier for victims of illegal photo sharing to take proper and fair legal action.