Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre was asked if a Conservative government led by him would require porn websites to verify the age of users to prevent minors from accessing the content, to which he replied, “Yes.”
The Conservatives are currently supporting a private member’s bill in the Senate that would require age verification for people to access pornography online. The bill, S-210, was passed in the Senate last year, and NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Conservative MPs voted to send the bill for consideration at a House of Commons committee.
It remains unclear how any age verification would be handled. Bill S-210 does not specify how the age verification would work either.
The Conservative leader did not specify either, but his office said the Conservatives don’t support a digital ID. A spokesperson for Polievere said, “Conservatives do not support any measures that would allow the imposition of a digital ID or infringe on the privacy of adults and their freedom to access legal content online.”
The Liberals voted against the bill in the House. The party thinks the Senate bill doesn’t do enough to protect children, and they promise upcoming online harms legislation will offer better policies on child safety.
Pornhub says if the Senate bill becomes law, it could potentially block access to the website in Canada. The Quebec-based company believes requiring porn websites to collect sensitive information, such as a digital ID, could put users safety in “jeopardy.”
The House of Commons committee to consider the Senate bill has not met yet, and no alternatives on how to verify a user’s age have been proposed by the Conservatives yet.
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Source: Canadian Press
