ATTENTION CANADIANS: Power to the people!
Read the draft of my Petition to the House of Commons regarding the urgent need for AI legislation and regulation. Please, support this initiative.
Image: Journée du 10 Aout 1792 | Artist: Antoine-Jean Duclos after Charles Monnet | Date: 1793
The tech giants developing AI need to be accountable, and users who decide to use this technology need protection and guidelines. Between the monopoly of who owns and operates AI, the focus on profit over people, to cases of suicide assistance by AI, and most recently the Tumbler Ridge tragedy that could have potentially been avoided if authorities were alerted in time by OpenAI by concerning messages from the perpetrator, we the people, cannot wait for someone to rescue us from out tech overlords; we need to act.
This technology has also been used to exploit children and women’s likeliness to generate horrendous images and videos; it has created a crisis of what’s now called “AI psychosis” amongst a public who is already dealing with a mental health crisis. Add a desperate level of disinformation, that have people second-guessing and scanning everything they read or watch for signs of being created or altered by AI.
Without our consent, all the major companies and monopolies invested millions to add this technology to every device and app we use, with no real idea or concrete studies on the severity of its influence, which we are now witnessing, not to mention the environmental impact of the massive data centres needed to operate it. It’s urgent and imperative that conversations are held and action items implemented to regulate and legislate such devastating technology, and quickly.
Many people are willing to fight this fight, and I am one of them. Below, I’m sharing the draft of the petition I intend to send to the HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED.
Whereas
Privacy is a fundamental human right that must be explicitly protected in the digital age to ensure the dignity and autonomy of all Canadians;
Current regulatory frameworks lack mandatory Privacy by Design requirements and rigorous Privacy Impact Assessments for high-impact data processing, leaving citizens vulnerable to systemic data misuse;
The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has enabled the unauthorized replication of an individual’s likeness and voice, creating a need for legal protections similar to trademark rights to ensure consenting adults retain sole authority over their digital identity;
The creation and distribution of AI-generated depictions of children constitute a grave form of violence and exploitation that mirrors the harms of child pornography;
The integration of advertisements within AI interfaces threatens user objectivity and data integrity;
The lack of mandatory reporting for concerning or predatory user behaviour poses a significant public safety risk.
Therefore, we the undersigned, citizens (or residents) of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to:
Enact legislation recognizing privacy as a fundamental right and mandating Privacy by Design and Privacy Impact Assessments for all high-impact AI and data processing systems;
Establish legal ownership over personal likeness and voice, requiring explicit consent from adults for any AI-related use of their persona;
Criminalize the AI generation of child likenesses with the same severity and sentencing guidelines as the possession and distribution of child pornography;
Prohibit the use of targeted or embedded advertisements within AI platforms to ensure unbiased and secure user experiences;
Mandate reporting protocols for AI service providers to immediately notify authorities of concerning or dangerous behaviour by users to prevent real-world harm and violence.
I have reached out via email to the offices of the following public servants to schedule meetings regarding this matter:
Mr. Evan Solomon, current Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, Liberal MP for the riding of Toronto Centre in Ontario.
Mr. Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice, Liberal MP for the riding of Central Nova in Nova Scotia.
Mr. John Brassard, current Chair of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Conservative MP for the riding of Barrie South in Ontario.
Senator Rosemary Moodie, current Chair of the Social Affairs, Science and Technology Committee, Independent Senator representing Ontario.
Premier Doug Ford, MPP for the riding of Etobicoke North in Ontario and the Premier of Ontario.
A public petition needs 1 (one) Member of Parliament (MP) to represent it and 5 (five) supporters. Right now, we cannot start collecting signatures since we still don’t have an MP representing it. That’s what I’m working on now. Please share this post far and wide, and pressure your MPs to support this initiative. Then, the petition needs a minimum of 500 (five hundred) signatures in 120 days to move forward. Then, the proposed legislation is introduced in Parliament in the form of a bill, which provides the basis to amend or repeal existing laws or put new ones in place.
It’s a long road, but one I’m willing to take. Are you with me? Canada can, and shall, be at the forefront of such legislation and regulation of AI, no matter how rich and powerful the owners of these AI companies are. We, the people, are taught to believe we are too little to make any changes to this sick world, but here I’m standing tall, as a stay-at-home mom, as a woman of colour, an immigrant, a new Canadian, believing in the power of the people to effect positive change. To create a better, safer world.
Please, if you can, support my petition. I need all the support I can get. Reach out to me if you need details like the email addresses of your representatives and a draft email that you can use to contact and email them, asking them to support this initiative, too. Together, we’re powerful.
Thank you!