Private Members' Business ·
Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act
“I want the House to pass this bill. Pornography harms the mental health and relationships of young people. The law already restricts porn by age, but nobody enforces it online. This bill forces adult websites to check users' ages, protects user privacy, and fines sites that do not comply. We check ID in stores for alcohol and tobacco, and online porn sites should follow the same rules.”
“Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand today in support of Bill S-209. I certainly want to thank the members of the other chamber, who have worked hard to get the bill this far. I also want to thank the member for Battlefords—Lloydminster—Meadow Lake for her leadership in keeping this bill going and bringing it to our chamber. It has been discussed for quite some time in Ottawa, and I am pleased to see that it is moving forward. Very simply, Bill S-209 is about protecting Canadian children. I am certainly in no position to speak for all members of the chamber, or even all members of my party, although I am sure all members of this place would agree that children must be protected from harm and that parents should have the tools they need to protect their children online. Bill S-209 would protect children by requiring commercial pornographic websites to implement effective age verification or age estimation measures while including safeguards that protect Canadians’ privacy. I believe this is truly a targeted, common-sense approach requiring websites that host pornographic material to take reasonable steps in verifying or estimating their users’ ages. Before I get further into some of the specifics of what the bill would do and how it aims to achieve its objectives, I want to speak about the “why”: the issue the bill aims to address. We have heard some quite remarkable comments already from members on all sides about some of the challenges we are facing as a country regarding this issue. Research has associated minors’ exposure to pornography with harmful attitudes and beliefs regarding sexual consent, including those of violence and degradation toward women, in particular, as well as coercion and exploitation. We also know that early exposure to pornography has been found to lead to increased rates of peer-to-peer sexual abuse among youth, meaning in part that a lot of the problematic narratives and actions depicted in some of this content are leading to many youth having troubles in their relationships, especially as they begin to grow older and begin dating. There have been many studies about the impact that the exposure of youth to pornography has on their self-esteem. I would like to speak about that for a few moments. Studies note that pornography consumption is associated with a negative body image and self-comparison in both sexes. Research links porn consumption to feelings of anxiety and depression in young girls, which is an alarming statistic to read. When looking at the impact on young boys, a report from Australia notes that viewing pornography can create or exacerbate feelings of loneliness, anxiety and body dissatisfaction in young boys in particular. With all that knowledge being stated, there are also surveys that show that by the age of 16, over 70% of boys view pornography multiple times per week. If we put that into perspective, to step back and look at that alarming stat, we see that 70% of boys up to 16 not only have viewed some of this harmful content, but are regularly viewing content that can cause them to feel lonely, anxious and dissatisfied within their own bodies. This is unquestionably a great concern for the mental health of young girls and boys alike, and something that we should all be concerned about in this place. The concerns that I highlighted and just shared are among the reasons that pornographic material is subject to age restrictions in Canada. However, despite the extensive research proving how harmful the material can be to young people, there is no effective enforcement of these age restrictions. This leads to the reality that many underage children are accessing pornography. In fact, the average age of first exposure to pornographic material is 12 years old, with one-third of children exposed to pornographic material by the age of just 10. Further, for youth aged 14 to 18, there are studies showing that more than 70% report having viewed pornography. The fact that so many young Canadians are viewing content that, as I just highlighted, negatively impacts their mental health, their relationships, the way they view the world and the way they view their relationships should be of great concern to all of us. Again, I do not speak for all members, but I am sure all members would agree with respect to having these age restrictions in place. That is the right thing to do. It only stands to reason that these restrictions should be enforced effectively. Of course, having a law in place but failing to enforce the law makes the law essentially useless. That would apply to any law we have in place in Canada. Bill S-209 seeks to fix that inconsistency. The bill, if passed, would require websites hosting pornographic material to implement effective age verification or age estimation systems. As I mentioned, the bill would also establish financial penalties for non-compliance, of up to $250,000 for a first offence and up to $500,000 for subsequent offences. Further, Bill S-209 would give court authority to order Canadian Internet service providers to block access to non-compliant websites. The rules set out within Bill S-209 would apply equally to all sites accessible in Canada, including those based outside the country. I do understand that throughout discussion and debate on this, there have been some people who raised concerns about privacy and data collection, and I do not disregard those concerns. I would note, however, that Bill S-209 also does not disregard those concerns. Set out in the bill are very specific criteria for age verification. Among others, the bill would require that the age verification method be operated by a third party organization, maintain user privacy, protect personal information and destroy any personal information collected once the age verification is completed. To me, this is a common-sense proposal being brought forward. I think about the consistency of the laws we have in place. When Canadians purchase alcohol, tobacco, cannabis or lottery tickets, they must present valid ID at the discretion of the vendor. If we are to allow, as a Parliament and as a country, an entire industry that offers age-restricted materials to bypass that accountability simply because it exists online rather than in a brick-and-mortar storefront, to me that is nonsensical. Further to that, it is presently an offence for a retailer and also for an individual employee to sell age-restricted products, such as alcohol and tobacco, to minors. This means that in Canada right now, we are essentially holding minimum-wage workers such as those selling tobacco products at a gas station, for example, to a higher standard of accountability than we are holding multi-million-dollar companies providing pornography online. It only stands to reason that all age-restricted products should have more consistent enforcement. Companies that profit from providing pornographic content should be responsible for keeping it out of the reach of children, and the websites that fail to protect children should face serious consequences. That is why I support Bill S-209 and the goals set out within it. I believe this would be an important step in keeping kids safe and in ensuring that our laws are consistently enforced. I hope the House chooses to vote in favour of Bill S-209 and move it forward to the next stage of discussion. As always, Conservatives will stand with parents and families and will continue to fight for an online environment where all children are safe.”
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand today in support of Bill S-209. I certainly want to thank the members of the other chamber, who have worked hard to get the bill this far. I also want to thank the member for Battlefords—Lloydminster—Meadow Lake for her leadership in keeping this bill going and bringing it to our chamber. It has been discussed for quite some time in Ottawa, and I am pleased to see that it is moving forward. Very simply, Bill S-209 is about protecting Canadian children. I am certainly in no position to speak for all members of the chamber, or even all members of my party, although I am sure all members of this place would agree that children must be protected from harm and that parents should have the tools they need to protect their children online. Bill S-209 would protect children by requiring commercial pornographic websites to implement effective age verification or age estimation measures while including safeguards that protect Canadians’ privacy. I believe this is truly a targeted, common-sense approach requiring websites that host pornographic material to take reasonable steps in verifying or estimating their users’ ages. Before I get further into some of the specifics of what the bill would do and how it aims to achieve its objectives, I want to speak about the “why”: the issue the bill aims to address. We have heard some quite remarkable comments already from members on all sides about some of the challenges we are facing as a country regarding this issue. Research has associated minors’ exposure to pornography with harmful attitudes and beliefs regarding sexual consent, including those of violence and degradation toward women, in particular, as well as coercion and exploitation. We also know that early exposure to pornography has been found to lead to increased rates of peer-to-peer sexual abuse among youth, meaning in part that a lot of the problematic narratives and actions depicted in some of this content are leading to many youth having troubles in their relationships, especially as they begin to grow older and begin dating. There have been many studies about the impact that the exposure of youth to pornography has on their self-esteem. I would like to speak about that for a few moments. Studies note that pornography consumption is associated with a negative body image and self-comparison in both sexes. Research links porn consumption to feelings of anxiety and depression in young girls, which is an alarming statistic to read. When looking at the impact on young boys, a report from Australia notes that viewing pornography can create or exacerbate feelings of loneliness, anxiety and body dissatisfaction in young boys in particular. With all that knowledge being stated, there are also surveys that show that by the age of 16, over 70% of boys view pornography multiple times per week. If we put that into perspective, to step back and look at that alarming stat, we see that 70% of boys up to 16 not only have viewed some of this harmful content, but are regularly viewing content that can cause them to feel lonely, anxious and dissatisfied within their own bodies. This is unquestionably a great concern for the mental health of young girls and boys alike, and something that we should all be concerned about in this place. The concerns that I highlighted and just shared are among the reasons that pornographic material is subject to age restrictions in Canada. However, despite the extensive research proving how harmful the material can be to young people, there is no effective enforcement of these age restrictions. This leads to the reality that many underage children are accessing pornography. In fact, the average age of first exposure to pornographic material is 12 years old, with one-third of children exposed to pornographic material by the age of just 10. Further, for youth aged 14 to 18, there are studies showing that more than 70% report having viewed pornography. The fact that so many young Canadians are viewing content that, as I just highlighted, negatively impacts their mental health, their relationships, the way they view the world and the way they view their relationships should be of great concern to all of us. Again, I do not speak for all members, but I am sure all members would agree with respect to having these age restrictions in place. That is the right thing to do. It only stands to reason that these restrictions should be enforced effectively. Of course, having a law in place but failing to enforce the law makes the law essentially useless. That would apply to any law we have in place in Canada. Bill S-209 seeks to fix that inconsistency. The bill, if passed, would require websites hosting pornographic material to implement effective age verification or age estimation systems. As I mentioned, the bill would also establish financial penalties for non-compliance, of up to $250,000 for a first offence and up to $500,000 for subsequent offences. Further, Bill S-209 would give court authority to order Canadian Internet service providers to block access to non-compliant websites. The rules set out within Bill S-209 would apply equally to all sites accessible in Canada, including those based outside the country. I do understand that throughout discussion and debate on this, there have been some people who raised concerns about privacy and data collection, and I do not disregard those concerns. I would note, however, that Bill S-209 also does not disregard those concerns. Set out in the bill are very specific criteria for age verification. Among others, the bill would require that the age verification method be operated by a third party organization, maintain user privacy, protect personal information and destroy any personal information collected once the age verification is completed. To me, this is a common-sense proposal being brought forward. I think about the consistency of the laws we have in place. When Canadians purchase alcohol, tobacco, cannabis or lottery tickets, they must present valid ID at the discretion of the vendor. If we are to allow, as a Parliament and as a country, an entire industry that offers age-restricted materials to bypass that accountability simply because it exists online rather than in a brick-and-mortar storefront, to me that is nonsensical. Further to that, it is presently an offence for a retailer and also for an individual employee to sell age-restricted products, such as alcohol and tobacco, to minors. This means that in Canada right now, we are essentially holding minimum-wage workers such as those selling tobacco products at a gas station, for example, to a higher standard of accountability than we are holding multi-million-dollar companies providing pornography online. It only stands to reason that all age-restricted products should have more consistent enforcement. Companies that profit from providing pornographic content should be responsible for keeping it out of the reach of children, and the websites that fail to protect children should face serious consequences. That is why I support Bill S-209 and the goals set out within it. I believe this would be an important step in keeping kids safe and in ensuring that our laws are consistently enforced. I hope the House chooses to vote in favour of Bill S-209 and move it forward to the next stage of discussion. As always, Conservatives will stand with parents and families and will continue to fight for an online environment where all children are safe.