The "Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act" (Bill S-210) aims to protect young people from accessing sexually explicit material online. It makes it a crime for organizations to make such material available to individuals under 18 for commercial purposes. If found guilty, these organizations could face fines. The bill also allows a designated authority to take steps to block young people in Canada from accessing this type of content.
The law outlines a process for dealing with organizations that break this law. If an enforcement authority believes an organization has committed an offence, they can issue a notice requiring them to take steps to comply with the Act. If the organization does not take these steps, the enforcement authority can ask the Federal Court to order Internet service providers to block access to the material. The Federal Court can order Internet service providers to prevent access to the sexually explicit material to young persons on the Internet in Canada if it determines that the organization has committed the offence, has failed to take the steps referred to in the notice, and the services provided by the Internet service providers who would be subject to the order may be used to access the sexually explicit material.
The bill provides some defenses for organizations accused of violating the Act. They can argue that they used a government-approved method to verify users' ages or that the material was made available for legitimate scientific, medical, educational, or artistic purposes. They can also argue that they complied with the notice provided. The Governor in Council may make regulations for carrying out the purposes of this Act, including prescribing the age-verification methods. Before prescribing an age-verification method, the Governor in Council must consider whether the method is reliable, maintains user privacy and protects user personal information, collects and uses personal information solely for age-verification purposes, destroys any personal information collected for age-verification purposes once the verification is completed, and generally complies with best practices in the fields of age verification and privacy protection.
The Minister responsible for the Act must present an annual report to Parliament on how the Act is being used. This report will include the number of notices issued, the number of times the Federal Court was asked to intervene, and the outcomes of those requests. The Act will come into effect one year after it receives royal assent.
Crime
This bill creates a new offence related to making sexually explicit material available to young persons online. Organizations that do so for commercial purposes can be fined up to $250,000 for a first offence and up to $500,000 for later offences. The bill also outlines procedures for enforcement, including the issuance of notices and potential court orders to block access to the material.