The European Union recently expressed its view on the role that
online platforms should play in combating illegal online content.
In Québec, this concern was identified early on, when
legislators laid down guidelines at the turn of the century.
However, this head start did little to keep Québec in the
lead, as the province is now seemingly lagging behind.
Online platforms are part of our daily lives. They include
social networks, search engines, content-sharing and rating sites,
blogs, and more. Yet we see an increasing dissemination of illegal
online content inciting hatred, violence and even terrorism.
Although the concept of "illegal content" is broad and
varies by jurisdiction, there are illegal situations across the
world. We instinctively think of the many forms of cyberbullying,
widespread among minors, such as flaming (brief disparaging
messages), harassment (barrage of violent remarks), disparagement
(harm to online reputation), masquerade (identity theft),
