C-257 (45-1) - An Act to amend the Criminal Code (promotion of terrorist activity or group)
Chamber
commons
Stage
1st Reading
Introduced
Nov 17, 2025
Progress
This bill makes it a criminal offence to wilfully promote terrorist activities or groups through public statements.
Key Changes
- Creates a new Criminal Code offence (section 83.171) for wilfully promoting terrorist activity or a terrorist group through statements
- Sets a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment for the new offence
- Establishes four specific defences: truth, good-faith religious expression, public interest discussion, and intent to report for removal
- Clarifies that a conviction can occur even if the statements did not specifically name a terrorist group or actually incite anyone
- Adds the new offence to the list requiring consecutive sentences alongside other terrorism convictions
- Adds the new offence to the list of offences permitting electronic surveillance (wiretapping) by law enforcement
Gotchas
- The bill does not require that the statements actually incite anyone to commit terrorism — promotion alone is sufficient for a charge, which broadens the scope of the offence
- The religious expression defence could be interpreted broadly or narrowly by courts, creating potential uncertainty in application
- The 'public interest' defence requires the person to have held a reasonable belief that the statements were true, placing a burden on the accused to demonstrate their state of mind
- Adding the offence to the wiretapping list (section 183) means police can conduct electronic surveillance on suspects without the suspect necessarily knowing, raising privacy considerations
- The consecutive sentencing requirement means this offence, if combined with other terrorism charges, could significantly increase total prison time served
- The bill mirrors the structure of the existing hate speech offence (section 319) in the Criminal Code, including borrowing definitions of 'communicating' and 'statements' from that section
Who's Affected
- Individuals who publicly promote or advocate for terrorist groups or activities
- Religious communities, given the specific religious expression defence included
- Journalists, researchers, and educators discussing terrorism-related topics in the public interest
- Law enforcement agencies, who gain new investigative tools including wiretapping authority
- Social media users and online content creators who share statements about terrorist groups
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- The bill does not require that the statements actually incite anyone to commit terrorism — promotion alone is sufficient for a charge, which broadens the scope of the offence
- The religious expression defence could be interpreted broadly or narrowly by courts, creating potential uncertainty in application
- The 'public interest' defence requires the person to have held a reasonable belief that the statements were true, placing a burden on the accused to demonstrate their state of mind
- Adding the offence to the wiretapping list (section 183) means police can conduct electronic surveillance on suspects without the suspect necessarily knowing, raising privacy considerations
- The consecutive sentencing requirement means this offence, if combined with other terrorism charges, could significantly increase total prison time served
- The bill mirrors the structure of the existing hate speech offence (section 319) in the Criminal Code, including borrowing definitions of 'communicating' and 'statements' from that section
Summary
Bill C-257 adds a new offence to the Criminal Code that makes it illegal to wilfully promote terrorist activity, a terrorist group, or any activity of a terrorist group through spoken or written statements. A person convicted of this offence could face up to five years in prison. The bill was introduced as a private member's bill by Mr. Baber in November 2025. The bill includes several defences to protect free speech. A person cannot be convicted if their statements were true, if they were expressing a genuine religious opinion, if the statements were on a matter of public interest and believed to be true, or if they were pointing out terrorist-promoting content for the purpose of having it removed. The new offence is also added to the list of offences for which sentences must be served consecutively (one after another, not at the same time) with other terrorism-related sentences, and it is included in the list of offences that allow police to use wiretapping and other electronic surveillance during investigations.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses