SELECTED CASE LAW
BRITISH COLUMBIA:
In 2008 BCSC 215 and 2008 BCSC 216, Mr. N was convicted of willfully promoting hatred against Black people, Jewish people, and homosexuals on a website he controlled and maintained, and on forums of other websites extolling similar views. He unsuccessfully argued that British Columbia courts did not have jurisdiction because the data of the website was contained on servers in the United States, that the content of his website was simply humour, and that this was a case of malicious prosecution. The website had Mr. N’s personal contact information listed as the registrant of the website and contained a photo of Mr. N and a description saying the website was “for expressing [his] views, and for linking to the sites of likeminded individuals.” The website was publicly available and did not have any privacy protections that would limit who could view the content. Mr. N was sentenced to four months incarceration and three years of probation. He was prohibited from accessing the internet, having internet services in his residence, attending establishments who primarily offer internet services or possessing a device that can access the internet during his probation and was ordered to forfeit the computer equipment used in the course of the offence.
Also see: 2017 BCSC 259 (s. 2b Charter challenge); 2016 BCSC 1895 (admissibility of expert evidence); 2015 BCSC 1185 (constitutional validity of Criminal Code s. 319(2)); 2014 BCPC 69 (Ap-plication To amend bail conditions) [2002] 57 WCB (2d) 234 (BCPC).
Criminal Offence(s): Hate Propaganda