As if operating the third largest transit system in North America weren’t challenging enough, the TTC is set to take on an even more daunting task: determining what constitutes hate speech.

At the centre of the debate is an unlikely instigator: a $1.9-million public art installation and worries about its potential for misuse by the public it is intended to serve.

The artwork, called LightSpell, was installed at the Pioneer Village Station on the Spadina subway extension and consists of suspended light elements, which customers can use to spell out messages of up to eight characters in length using keypads on the platform level below.

But although the agency has already paid for the work, it has sat unused for months. Before the extension opened last December, the TTC decided not to activate it because of concerns customers could use it to display dangerous or hateful messages in the station.

A report going to the agency’s board on Tuesday outlines a potential resolution to the problem, which involves coming up with a list of words that would be banned from use on the art screen, and convening an independent panel to answer the thorny issue of which messages violate Canadian law.

Read more: TTC still at impasse over dormant $1.9-million art installation, LightSpell

TTC spokesperson Brad Ross conceded that the transit agency has “struggled” to find a solution that would allow it to turn on the installation, but says he’s hopeful this will do the trick.

“This city is the most diverse in the world and we need to make sure that everybody who rides the system, whether frequently or infrequently, always feels welcome,” Ross said.

According to the report, after consultation with the artists who designed the piece, the two parties have agreed to a handful of principles that would allow LightSpell to be switched on at last.

They include a provision that the TTC create a list of terms that would be prohibited from being displayed on the grounds that they “compromise safety” or “incite panic or cause harm to passengers.”

The TTC would also reserve the right to immediately “remove or quarantine” any content that “is determined to be contrary to the laws of Canada.”

Messages that are removed or are subject to public complaints would be referred to an independent panel “with the necessary experience to evaluate inappropriate content.” The panel would then determine whether the terms should be prohibited or reinstated.

All of the group’s decisions would be made public.

The installation’s terms of use explaining how the work “is to be properly used” would also be displayed prominently in the station, and the interactive feature would be disabled at certain times of the night.

According to Ross, the agency hasn’t yet created a list of terms it would ban for safety reasons, but is considering words such as “fire,” “bomb,” or “jump.”

Terms that don’t compromise safety or violate the law could be permitted, and Ross said “it’s possible” customers could write swear words or other obscenities using the installation.

“People might start to complain about that and then we would have to have a look at that,” he said.

“It’s been the hate that has been the driving concern here, not swearing.”

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In order to filter out unwanted content realities:united, the German art studio that designed LightSpell, would have to modify the installation’s software.

So far they have resisted attempts to alter the work in order to censor messages, arguing that doing so would violate the “democratic” spirit of the piece.

According to the TTC report, realities:united received $200,000 for the “concept and implementation” of the work, while the remaining $1.7 million went to the design and installation of the piece at Pioneer Village.

In a phone interview, Jan Edler, one of the co-founders of realities:united, said the studio has had a “constructive dialogue” with the TTC, but “we haven’t agreed upon a final solution yet.”

“But, in general, the spirit of the installation is still to be an open installation that allows (it) to be uncensored. But we’re looking into details of that and discussing with the TTC,” he said.

Richard Moon, a hate speech expert and law professor at the University of Windsor, predicted a panel would have difficulty determining what constitutes hate speech.

The Criminal Code of Canada defines hate speech as that which wilfully incites or promotes hatred against an identifiable group.

Moon said racial epithets displayed in a subway station would likely fit that definition. But it would be harder to determine how to categorize words such as “bitch,” which in some contexts would be considered hateful, but in others, not.

Moon described the TTC’s proposal to establish a panel to tackle the problem as “entirely impractical.”

“The problem is not just that the determination of what counts as hate speech under the Criminal Code is difficult. There will be understandable pressure to restrict speech — words and phrases — that are offensive to some in the community,” Moon said.

“And so there will be lots of complaints … and the decision about what should be taken down and what should remain will be very contentious.”

He predicted the TTC will be “overwhelmed” with complaints and will ultimately determine it should take the installation down, “just as some publications have found it necessary to remove their comments section.”