Skip to main content
Start of content
Start of content

441-00328 (Health)

Paper petition

Original language of petition: English

PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED RESIDENTS OF CANADA, draw the attention of the House to the following:

WHEREAS sexually explicit material — including demeaning material and material depicting sexual violence — can be easily accessed on the Internet by young persons;

Whereas a significant proportion of the sexually explicit material accessed online is made available on the Internet for commercial purposes and is not protected by any effective age-verification method;

WHEREAS the consumption of sexually explicit material by young persons is associated with a range of serious harms, including the development of pornography addiction, the reinforcement of gender stereotypes and the development of attitudes favourable to harassment and violence — including sexual harassment and sexual violence — particularly against women;

WHEREAS Parliament recognizes that the harmful effect of the increasing accessibility of sexually explicit material online for young persons is an important public health and public safety concern;

WHEREAS online age-verification technology is increasingly sophisticated and can now effectively ascertain the age of users without breaching their privacy rights;

WHEREAS anyone making sexually explicit material available on the Internet for commercial purposes has a responsibility to ensure that it is not accessed by young persons;

WHEREAS online age-verification was the primary recommendation made by stakeholders during a 2017 study by the Standing Committee on Health.

THEREFORE your petitioners call upon the House of Commons to adopt Bill S-203, Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act.

Response by the Minister of Canadian Heritage

Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Chris Bittle

The Government would like to thank the petitioners for expressing their concerns regarding protecting young persons online – a very important issue. The Government is committed to making the Internet a safer and more inclusive place for Canadians. As you know, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has been mandated to work with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to develop and introduce legislation as soon as possible to combat serious forms of harmful online content, including child sexual exploitation content and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.

The Government is committed to getting this right. From July 29 to September 25, 2021, the Government of Canada held a public consultation on a proposed legislative and regulatory framework for harmful content online. The Government subsequently released a report titled ‘The Government’s Proposed Approach to Address Harmful Content Online’ on February 3, 2022, outlining the key takeaways from the consultation. As a next step following the release of the report, on March 30, 2022, the Government announced the creation of an expert advisory group to generate advice on a revised legislative and regulatory framework for harmful content online. The advisory group’s objective is to provide advice to support the Government in developing legislation on online safety. The group’s discussions include topics raised by the petitioners, including perspectives on child protections online, child sexual exploitation, and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.  Engagement with the expert group is done in an open and transparent manner, so that all interested parties can follow along. https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/harmful-online-content.html

All Canadians should be able to express themselves online without being subject to hateful or threatening attacks. The Government will take some time to further engage with experts, stakeholders and interested parties to develop an effective legislative and regulatory framework to confront harmful content online.

Presented to the House of Commons
Arnold Viersen (Peace River—Westlock)
April 1, 2022 (Petition No. 441-00328)
Government response tabled
May 16, 2022
Photo - Arnold Viersen
Peace River—Westlock
Conservative Caucus
Alberta

Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.