ENGLISH
• SUMMARY
SUMMARY
• 1 Short Title
1 Short Title
• 2 Interpretation
2 Interpretation
• 3 Duty of Care
3 Duty of Care
• 6 Regulations
6 Regulations
• 7 Offence and Punishment
7 Offence and Punishment
• 9 Criminal Code
9 Criminal Code

SUMMARY

Short Title

Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Protection Against Online Fraud Act.

Interpretation

Definitions

2 The following definitions apply in this Act.

operator means the owner or operator of a platform, such as an online service or application, that connects to the Internet, including a social media service and an online video gaming service.‍ (exploitant)

social media service means a website or application that is accessible in Canada, the primary purpose of which is to facilitate interprovincial or international online communication among users of the website or application by enabling them to access and share content.‍ (service de média social)

Duty of Care

Prevention of fraud

3 (1) Every operator must act in the best interests of their users by taking reasonable steps in the design and operation of its products and services to prevent the dissemination of fraudulent content through them.

Removal of content

(2) Every operator must remove from their platforms, websites or applications the content that has been identified as fraudulent.

Internal process

(3) Every operator must establish a process to notify any user whom it knows or should reasonably know has engaged with content that has been identified as fraudulent.

Notification

(4) Every operator must notify any user whom it knows or should reasonably know has engaged with content that has been identified as fraudulent and must ensure that the user has read the notification sent.

Record keeping

4 Every operator must keep and maintain a record of all content removed and of all notifications sent to its users under section 3.

Reporting

5 Every operator must publish, in the form and manner prescribed by regulations, a report containing the prescribed information in respect of the fraudulent content removed under subsection 3(2).

Regulations

Regulations

6 The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting

• (a) the record to be kept and maintained by an operator under section 4; and

• (b) the report to be published under section 5 and the information that must be contained in it.

Offence and Punishment

Contravention of sections 3 to 5

7 Every operator who contravenes any of sections 3 to 5 is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than one million dollars.

Due diligence

8 An operator is not to be found guilty of an offence under this Act if they establish that they exercised due diligence to prevent its commission.

R.‍S.‍, c. C-46

Criminal Code

9 The Criminal Code is amended by adding the following after section 403: