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Results: 1 - 15 of 577
View Chris Warkentin Profile
CPC (AB)
Colleagues, I'm going to call this meeting to order.
This meeting is the 38th of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. We are resuming our study today on the protection of privacy and reputation on platforms such as Pornhub. I would like to remind colleagues that today's meeting is televised and will be available on the House of Commons website.
I would like to welcome Minister Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, for the first hour. Accompanying him from the Department of Canadian Heritage, we have Joëlle Montminy, senior assistant deputy minister, cultural affairs; and Pierre-Marc Perreault, acting director, digital citizen initiative.
Minister, I'm going to turn it over to you for your opening statement, after which we'll have some questions for you.
View Shannon Stubbs Profile
CPC (AB)
View Shannon Stubbs Profile
2021-06-07 11:08
Thank you, Chair.
Minister, thanks for being here.
Just to start, do you think Bill C-10 is adequate to combat child sexual abuse material and rape and non-consensual material online?
View Shannon Stubbs Profile
CPC (AB)
View Shannon Stubbs Profile
2021-06-07 11:08
I'll take that as a “no” for Bill C-10.
Witnesses said previously that Canada's Criminal Code “child pornography” definition is among the world's broadest. It bans images, audio and written forms. Platforms are already liable for circulating illegal user-generated content. There are circumstances in which a company becomes liable for something that somebody else said or did if the company knew about it in advance and published it anyway, or if the company was notified about it after the fact and failed to take action. These situations are very well documented with MindGeek and Pornhub. It seems the real and disturbing issue is a lack of application of the law and its enforcement.
In January, you said that within a few weeks you were going to create a regulator to stop child sexual abuse material and sharing of non-consensual images online. I'm just wondering why there hasn't been any serious progress on that. I have a couple of questions about that for you from survivors. What's the delay?
View Shannon Stubbs Profile
CPC (AB)
View Shannon Stubbs Profile
2021-06-07 11:11
Wow, what a ridiculous and partisan evasion on your part. What I would suggest is that if you hadn't spent months and months figuring out how to regulate Canadians' freedom of expression in their Facebook, Twitter and social media posts, maybe you would have had time to do a little work on this crucial issue.
The facts you read out are correct, of course, and deeply disturbing. Let me see if you have any answers at all on the legislation that you say is necessary for regulating online harm.
In terms of this regulator, what rules is it actually going to enforce, will it be the CRTC and what enforcement mechanisms will be in place?
View Shannon Stubbs Profile
CPC (AB)
View Shannon Stubbs Profile
2021-06-07 11:12
I think you have spoken about the concept of having a 24-hour takedown rule, so that once it has been notified that material is there, there would be a provision for that. I think that's a good idea. Of course, the trouble is that when child sexual abuse material or non-consensual images have been up for even 24 hours, they can have hundreds or thousands of viewers—millions in the case of Pornhub and MindGeek. We've heard from victims that explicit images of them were online for three years before they found out. In the case of Serena Fleites, hers was shared and downloaded all over her school before she knew. Then she got into a never-ending back and forth to try to get the platforms to be accountable and to take down the materials.
Can you explain or enlighten us about what prevention mechanisms might actually be in place?
View Shannon Stubbs Profile
CPC (AB)
View Shannon Stubbs Profile
2021-06-07 11:14
Do you also believe that companies must be more responsible for ensuring that the content they are publishing does not contain minors and has the express and explicit consent of the individuals depicted?
View Francesco Sorbara Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Chair, and good morning to everybody. It's nice to be here this Monday morning, and again, welcome, Minister. It's great to see you here today. Thank you for all the hard work that you and your team are undertaking for all Canadians.
Minister, the first thing I would like to inquire about is the following. In mid-January, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation conducted a survey on Canadians' perceptions and recommendations on the spread of hate speech and racism on social media platforms. The survey shows that racialized groups are three times more likely to be exposed to or targeted by violence on social media. The proliferation of such content can result in hate crimes, which have gone up seven per cent this year across the country. These numbers have resonated painfully with our own recent history. Just four years ago, six people were murdered as they gathered for the evening prayer at the Grand Mosque in Quebec City. Islamophobia and xenophobia motivated this act. We learned shortly after that the perpetrator was radicalized through social media.
People here in Canada are harmed and victimized by hateful, violent, extremist, terrorist and radicalizing content. The online environment amplifies and spreads hateful messages against minority communities and the disenfranchised in ways we have never seen before. It's actually quite terrifying, to be honest.
Given that creating new regulations for social media platforms is in your mandate letter, and you mentioned you would bring legislation forward soon, could you provide us with an update on the essential work you are doing to protect Canadians online?
Thank you, Minister.
View Francesco Sorbara Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Minister.
I have a follow-up question on what we are seeing in terms of some content that is being posted online and its negative impact on various communities.
With that, communities across Canada are extremely worried about the rise of Islamophobia, hate speech online, as you just mentioned, towards our indigenous communities, and other forms of prejudice that have only intensified during this pandemic. We've all seen that words can lead to violence.
As parliamentarians, we recognize that we all have a duty to lead by example; that is to say, to engage in respectful dialogues, to be open to debates of ideas and to hear the positions of Canadians in order to work for a society where everyone is free to flourish with dignity.
Minister, can you tell us more about what our government is doing to fight the promotion of hatred and violence online?
Thank you.
View Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Minister. I hope you are well on this Monday, as we approach the end of the parliamentary session.
First of all, I congratulate you on all the work you have done on Bill C‑10. Of course, I am very disappointed with what is happening right now. In December, the committee made a point of meeting with witnesses to get to the bottom of everything that was going on with child pornography. However, because we are on the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, we had to address other issues.
Today, I would like to shed some light on all of the testimony that we have heard. Initially, our motion was to invite Pornhub executives. We've heard a lot of comments, and I'd like to express a concern that I have.
We talked about the Five Eyes group and how this is a global issue. That being said, our current position is unfortunately not at the forefront. As you said earlier, other countries have already introduced similar legislation or are in the process of doing so. Canada does not have any concrete bills in the works on this topic.
How is Canada positioning itself? How do we position ourselves internationally in terms of protecting our fundamental rights?
View Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Profile
BQ (QC)
It is reassuring to hear that. I hope that other countries will be on board, because this is a real problem. Every witness we've heard told us that. We are unable to legislate well with the tools we have, especially with regard to uploads and downloads.
There was another thing that really upset me. Witnesses told us that the more we legislate, the more there will be an increase in these misdeeds on the dark Web.
How are we going to do this? There are so many solutions, and I'm the first one to be overwhelmed by it all.
How will we get it right and sort things out to curtail these reprehensible activities insofar as possible and put an end to their proliferation on the dark web?
View Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Profile
BQ (QC)
If I have a few seconds left, Mr. Chair, I'd like to ask one last question.
I am still a new member of the House, and when I came in, I found that our approach to privacy was identity-based. Earlier, you mentioned countries like France and Germany. In the previous session, we apprised ourselves of a lot of reports, including on Estonia, which has taken the lead.
My concern is about hacking and traceability of content on the web. I am worried about that. Do you think it is indeed urgent for Canada to prepare for this? Right now, there are a lot of international companies that are laughing at us a little because we don't protect our basic rights enough.
What do you think about that?
View Charlie Angus Profile
NDP (ON)
Thank you, Minister, for coming today.
I'd like to ask you right off the top, on what date did the cabinet begin to discuss the issues of the allegations of sexual violence against young people on Pornhub?
When did cabinet start to talk about the Pornhub issue?
View Charlie Angus Profile
NDP (ON)
Okay.
Minister Bill Blair told us the government was creating this new regulator. Is this new regulator going to be the CRTC?
View Charlie Angus Profile
NDP (ON)
I understand that. I'm just wondering whether, on the use of generated content, it's not going to apply to Pornhub.
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