As the federal government prepares to introduce legislation to regulate content on social media, Canadians have reason to be concerned about the effectiveness of its approach and the poor example we are about to set for countries that don't share our commitment to human rights.

Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault has hinted in recent weeks that Canada's forthcoming legislation will be modelled after Germany's NetzDG law. The law allows for social media companies to be fined up to 50 million euros for failing to remove what the legislation calls "obviously illegal" content from their sites within 24 hours of being notified.