You have the right to know about the existing criminal code responses to cyberbullying. More specifically, you have the right to know about cyberbullying and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images.
Although Canada’s Criminal Code does not specifically cover bullying, it does cover behaviors that characterize bullying. Examples of these behaviors are “criminal harassment, uttering threats, intimidation, etc.” One action that falls under these behaviors is distributing intimate images that were provided to another individual that were supposed to be private in nature. This act negatively affects someone in the sense that the victim would fear for their safety because making intimate images public could make someone subject to sexual harassment, threats, etc. This means that distributing intimate images is an act of cyberbullying and could be punishable by Canadian law.
On one hand, this behavior is seen in sections 264 of the Criminal Code under criminal harassment.
On the other hand, another portion of the Criminal Code that pertains to this behavior is section 301, which is committing an act that could subject someone to “an injury to their reputation.”
Therefore, if these acts are committed against anyone in Canada, that person has the right to sue the perpetrator because publicizing one’s intimate images is a threat to both their safety and their reputation.
