Remove non-consensual content, enforce existing laws: ethics committee on Pornhub
Canadians who have their image posted to Pornhub or other online streaming platforms without their consent should have the right to have it taken down immediately, a parliamentary committee said in a report released Thursday that pushed Ottawa to get tougher on the issue.
The House of Commons ethics committee began studying privacy protection and other issues involving sites such as Pornhub, owned by Montreal-based MindGeek, after a New York Times investigation said the site hosted videos of child sexual assaults and exploitations.
"As a father, and as parliamentarian, I felt it was a responsibility," Conservative committee chair Chris Warkentin said at a news conference in Ottawa.
"I was joined by my colleagues, who felt, I believe, the same thing, to investigate these startling and horrifying testimonies. In some cases, torment that changed these witnesses lives forever."
It also recommends making online platforms liable for failing to ensure that material is deleted quickly, or else face financial penalties. It calls for measures to verify that people depicted in pornographic content are at least 18 years old, and consented to its publication. It also says anyone who claims images or videos were shared online without their consent be given the benefit of the doubt.
The report also recommends that these online platforms be held liable for failing to prevent material involving child sexual abuse, or other non-consensual images, from being uploaded.
The committee also called for the federal government create a legal framework to require internet-service providers that host pornographic content to get more proactive about moderating content and enforcing rules, and be held legally accountable.
The committee held seven meetings, received 50 briefs and heard from 34 witnesses, including survivors, MindGeek and law enforcement.
Liberal vice-chair Brenda Shanahan said she found the testimonies and reports of content-hosting platforms operating in Canada to be "callously negligent" in prohibiting violent and child sexual abuse material on their websites.
"Our government is already seized by these and other disturbing issues emerging from the multi-layered online marketplace," she said Thursday.
"We look forward to seeing the government's response to our report."
Conservative committee member Shannon Stubbs said the recommendations were made with "urgency, resolve and determined expectations" and the onus is now on the government to act.
In April, the Liberal government announced it would introduce legislation to create a new regulator that will ensure online platforms remove harmful content, including depictions of children and intimate images that are shared without consent.
MindGeek did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication Thursday, but has previously denied all accusations of wrongdoing. The company has said it is a global leader in preventing the distribution of exploitative videos and images and has zero tolerance for non-consensual content or child sexual abuse material.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.