The internet in Canada could get a heck of a lot more censored soon as the age verification bill could soon pass.
The Canadian government could soon be one step closer to outright censoring the internet. This thanks to Canada’s age verification bill otherwise known as Bill S-210. The bill has undergone a number of analysis since it was tabled. This includes analysis from myself, David Fraser, and Emily Laidlaw. While there have been many perspectives weighing in, the overwhelming conclusion is that Bill S-210 is a massive unconstitutional mess that will cause serious damage to freedom of expression and privacy rights.
So, it is no surprise that digital rights organizations like Open Media and even the US organization and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, among others, have sounded the alarm about the dangers of this legislation. This is with good reason.
Among the problems with the legislation is that it demands that Canadians fork over huge swaths of highly sensitive personal information to third parties everywhere. This while offering no protections to what happens with that personal information outside of a toothless “pretty please” provision within the law (there are no penalties for misusing that personal information). The bill also provides a stepping stone for censoring LGBTQ+ content by allowing such content to be classified as “explicit” material. Some supporters go so far as to say that this is one of the overall goals because they view LGBTQ+ material as a threat to minors. Other supporters believe that this is a good stepping stone to fully ban pornography in Canada even though such content is legally protected speech. Even worse is the fact that this bill opens the door for suppression of other content such as accessing social media or video games.
The political picture in all of this is a rather peculiar one. This is a bill that is opposed by the Liberal party. It’s actually the Conservative party, a party that has screamed “free speech” for the last several years (especially with respect to the Online News Act and Online Streaming Act), that are pushing this bill as a “necessary” form of internet censorship. What’s more, the Conservative party has been doing everything they can to pass this bill. This includes blocking all witnesses from testifying and accusing anyone who supports privacy rights of being “shocking” and “disgusting”.
The only real good news in all of this is the fact that the legislation was delayed for the Summer. This means that when the Fall sitting commenced, that delay is over. Well, here we are in the Fall season and there is speculation that it’s possible that the legislation could be passed sometime next month. If it does, this could represent one of the biggest free speech disasters in Canadian history.
While it does seem like there is little hope here, there are some things to consider that might offer some comfort in all of this. Technically speaking, the legislation is not yet law (even though it is on the verge of being passed). Another aspect is that this bill is easily open to litigation because it’s a very obvious violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
While the legal challenges are a very real threat to this legislation, it’s definitely possible that it won’t come from at least one adult website. Earlier this year, reports indicated that Pornhub is contemplating blocking Canada in response to this legislation. It’s also entirely possible that other websites would follow suit as well. This means that the legal challenge may have to come from another organization altogether.
The digital rights situation in Canada is already bad enough. With the Online News Act completely destroying the Canadian news sector, the Online Streaming Act on the verge of getting to the business of destroying the careers of thousands of Canadian creators, and trade sanctions seemingly imminent from the Digital Services Tax, about the last thing Canada needs right now is another round of government internet censorship. Sadly, this could very easily be coming soon for Canadians everywhere.
