Removing Offending Content From The Internet Just Became Harder

In a fairly short, but fascinating and important 9-0 decision in R v Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2018 SCC 5 released on February 9, 2018, the Supreme Court of Canada clearly came down on the side of favouring freedom of the press and expression over the importance of protecting the privacy rights of victims of crime. In the process, the Court raised the bar for litigants seeking interim injunctions requiring the removal of offending content from the internet pending the ultimate trial of the issues. The bar is now so high that very few cases will ever reach it in the future. This is welcome news for media outlets and internet service providers, but is a blow to the ability of our courts to grant interim remedies to enforce our defamation and intellectual property laws against those who engage in online defamation or piracy.