Exposure to Pornography

During Statements by Members, a Conservative member raised the issue of young children accessing violent, sexually explicit material online. He described early exposure to pornography as a form of child abuse that can lead to violence, and called on Parliament to pass legislation requiring adult websites to verify users’ ages. The bill under discussion is Senate Bill S-209, the Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act, which would make it an offence to make pornographic material available to young persons online.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

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1 statement

Garnett Genuis, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan

Conservative
“Too many young children are seeing violent pornography online, which harms them and leads to violence. I want Parliament to pass this bill to make adult websites verify users' ages.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, stats show that a very large number of 9-, 10-, 11- and 12-year-old boys are accessing violent, sexually explicit material on the Internet. Exposing children to sexually explicit images is a form of child abuse. The proportions of this abuse make early exposure to pornography the most underdiscussed crisis in our nation. It is at the root of so much sexual violence, family breakdown and personal crisis. There is an urgent need to protect young children from the abuse they so regularly experience through being shown violent sexual images online. Bill S-209 proposes a simple solution: Pornography websites should be required to verify or credibly estimate the age of those who access them. This bill has passed the Senate unanimously three times. This bill is now one of the most repeatedly and thoroughly studied bills ever, but we have still not acted. We are past due for action, and I hope this Parliament is the one that finally acts to protect kids from abuse, women from violence and families from crisis by completing the work on Bill S-209.

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