Most Canadians Want Porn Age Verification in Online Harms Bill

OTTAWA—A public opinion poll commissioned by The Globe and Mail through Nanos Research indicates that about four in five Canadians believe that a national age verification measure should be included in the sweeping online harms bill, Bill C-63, which was introduced in February by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's liberal government. This is a noteworthy development in the ongoing debate surrounding required age verification laws in countries around the globe. "Most Canadians support or somewhat support online platforms found to host hate speech being required to remove the content within 24 hours and including legislation in the Online Harms Act for websites hosting online pornography being required to verify their users are 18 years and older," Nanos reported, referring to how some proponents of Bill C-63 believe it should additionally cover legal but harmful forms of speech on the internet.  Justice Minister Arif Virani first introduced Bill C-63 in a bid to regulate the internet in a manner similar to that adopted by the United Kingdom.  In response to the poll's findings, Minister Virani's spokesperson said that the findings "suggest that Canadians understand our intent." About 56 percent of the respondents believe that the Canadian federal government should regulate the internet in greater form. Bill C-63 is still in its early stages before the Canadian House of Commons. The Globe and Mail published the findings of the Nanos survey a day before a member of Ethical Capital Partners' advisory board published a column in its editorial pages. Ethical Capital Partners (ECP), a private equity firm, purchased Aylo (formerly MindGeek) just over a year ago. Aylo owns Pornhub and is headquartered in Montreal, Québec. In a bid to understand the adult entertainment industry better, ECP appointed an advisory board of academics, sex workers' rights activists and others. One such member is Maggie MacDonald, a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto. MacDonald studies the regulation of online platforms, and authored the Tuesday column for The Globe and Mail. "Young people deserve our protection and support, but throttling porn sites is not the answer," MacDonald wrote in her column. "Rather than creating a digital surveillance state that imperils us all, let’s shape a safer Internet through evidence-based approaches." She mentions Bill C-63 and Bill S-210. S-210 is a competing age verification measure that was backed by the Conservative Party and Bloc Québécois, and is currently tabled for further study.