A private member’s bill that’s trying to curb online sexual exploitation passed second reading unanimously in the House of Commons on May 8. The vote was 327–0 in favor.
It’s still a long road before it could become law, but Bill C-270 now goes to the Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights for further study.
While there was no debate during second reading on May 8, there was debate on April 9, where Mr. Viersen made his case for the legislation.
“Survivors, including a 12-year-old from Ontario, have had to seek justice through their own lawsuits because in Canada, the onus is on survivors and on law enforcement to prove, after the material has been uploaded, that the individuals depicted in those videos are either under age, or have not consented to their distribution,” said Mr. Viersen during the April 9 debate.
“This is particularly a problem for Canada as many of those websites are hosted here,” he added. “Pornographic companies are publicizing and monetizing content without verifying the age and the consent of the people depicted in them.”
MPs from all parties voted in favor of second reading.
However, during the April 9 debate, the Liberals’ parliamentary secretary to the leader of the government questioned why the opposition doesn’t appear to support Bill C-63, which is the government’s proposed Online Harms Act.
“The essence of what Bill C-63 does is that it provides an obligation, a legal obligation, for online platforms to take off of their platforms child pornography and non-consensual pornography,” MP Kevin Lamoureux told the House of Commons.
He argued child pornography and using non-consensual material are both illegal in Canada—but what is missing is legislation to force companies to take down such material.
“There is a consequence to perpetrators today if they are found out. What is missing is how we get those platforms to get rid of those images once those perpetrators start uploading the information and platforms start using the material. That is what the government legislation would provide,” he said during the April 9 debate.
However, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner pointed out a number of critics have attacked the Online Harms Act because it goes well beyond protecting children to include other measures, such as making it possible for police to place someone under house arrest if there is a fear they might say something harmful online.
“That bill has been so widely panned by such a variety of disparate stakeholders that the government has not even scheduled it for debate in the House yet,” she told MPs on April 9.
She said Bill C-270 is a narrowly focused bill that would at least give law enforcement some tools.
She called it “a clear call to action to update the Criminal Code where we can, in narrow provisions, so law enforcement has the tools it needs to ensure that victims of these types of crimes can receive justice.”
For its part, the NDP said they are willing to get Bill C-270 into committee so it can be further studied.
“The bill, in some senses, is very simple,” said NDP MP Randall Garrison on April 9. “It would require checking ID and keeping records of consent. Some would argue that the existing law already implicitly requires that, so is this a step that would make it easier to prosecute? I do not know the answer to that, but I am looking forward to hearing expert testimony on it.”
During the debate, Ms. Rempel-Garner pointed out artificial intelligence (AI) has created another problem: fake pornographic shots involving real people.
“There are websites right now where anyone in this place can download an app to their phone, upload any image of any person, including any person in here … erase people’s clothes, and make it look like legitimate pornography,” she said, adding there are already cases where young women have been harassed because of AI-generated images.
“What is happening is that technology is rapidly outpacing our ability to keep up with the law,” she said.
Mr. Viersen told the April 9 debate he believes the bill could make a difference.
“This bill would ensure that age verification and consent applies to all pornography companies because whether it is videos of child exploitation, sex trafficking, AI deepfakes, sexual assault, or an intimate encounter filmed by a partner, once a video or image has been uploaded, it is virtually impossible to eliminate,” he said.
