Internet Surveillance and Popular Constitutionalism

appears in George Williams, Fergal Davis and Nicola McGarrity, eds, Surveillance, Counter-Terrorism and Comparative Constitutionalism (Oxford: Routledge, 2014) 313.

10 Pages Posted: 19 May 2015

See all articles by Vanessa MacDonnell

Vanessa MacDonnell

University of Ottawa - Common Law Section

Date Written: December 2013

Abstract

In 2012, the Canadian government reintroduced Bill C-30, An Act to enact the Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act and to amend the Criminal Code and other Acts, dubbed the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act by the government (Bill C-30). Despite what the short title might suggest, the Bill was not solely aimed at providing police with additional powers to investigate internet crimes targeting children. It also enlarged the ability of ‘national security and law enforcement agencies’ to engage in internet surveillance. Reaction to the Bill was immediate. Individuals banded together through the very medium under threat – the internet – to protest the new surveillance powers being proposed. Building on opposition generated by earlier iterations of the Bill, social media communities mounted highly effective protests, which were accompanied by on and offline campaigns involving civil liberties groups, an internet policy think tank, members of the academy, and provincial and federal privacy watchdogs. Incredibly, these protests appear to have persuaded the government not to proceed with the legislation. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced in February 2013 that the government would not move forward with those aspects of the Bill that had generated criticism. In short, a largely citizen and social media-driven campaign to place meaningful limits on internet surveillance appears to have been successful.

In this chapter I examine whether the opposition provoked by Bill C-30 and its predecessors can be understood through the lens of popular constitutionalism. Drawing on Reva Siegel and Robert Post’s work on how popular ‘resistance’ can shift ‘constitutional meaning’, I suggest that the opposition to Bill C-30 and the government’s subsequent response might be viewed as having constitutional dimensions.

Keywords: comparative constitutional law; constitutional theory; internet surveillance; popular constitutionalism

Suggested Citation

MacDonnell, Vanessa, Internet Surveillance and Popular Constitutionalism (December 2013). appears in George Williams, Fergal Davis and Nicola McGarrity, eds, Surveillance, Counter-Terrorism and Comparative Constitutionalism (Oxford: Routledge, 2014) 313., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2606143

Vanessa MacDonnell (Contact Author)

University of Ottawa - Common Law Section ( email )

57 Louis Pasteur Street
Ottawa, K1N 6N5
Canada
613-562-5800 (7917) (Phone)

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