OTTAWA – Leon Benoit, Member of Parliament for Vegreville-Wainwright, gave the following statement in the House of Commons on November 25th, 2009.
“Mr. Speaker, child pornography is a form of child abuse which has increased dramatically due to its growth on the Internet. This must not be tolerated.
“Through several pieces of legislation, our Conservative government has demonstrated in the past that we are committed to protecting families and children, but more is needed.
“Yesterday our justice minister stepped forward with an announcement that will make it mandatory for Internet providers to report to a designated agency any information they receive about the appearance of child pornography on the web. The present voluntary reporting has been helpful, but this legislation will make it mandatory to report any tips they receive on child pornography and the resulting sexual exploitation.
“When it comes to protecting children and families, I am proud of the stand taken by this Prime Minister and this government. May God bless them.”
A backgrounder on the legislation referred to by Mr. Benoit in the statement above is attached.
Backgrounder: Mandatory Reporting of Internet Child Pornography
In September 2008, Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers responsible for Justice agreed that Canada’s response to child pornography could be enhanced by federal legislation requiring any agency whose services could be used to facilitate the commission of online pornography offences to report suspected material.
The Government of Canada has proposed legislation that would help enhance Canada’s capacity to better protect children against sexual exploitation by making it mandatory for those who supply an Internet service to the public to report online child pornography. The legislation would help safeguard children by improving law enforcement’s ability to detect offences and reduce the availability of child pornography on the Internet.
Under the proposed legislation, suppliers of Internet services to the public would be required to:
- report, to a designated agency, tips that they might receive regarding websites where child pornography may be available to the public.
- notify police and safeguard evidence if they believe that a child pornography offence has been committed using an Internet service that they provide.
Failure to comply with the duties under this Act would constitute an offence punishable by graduated fines of: up to $1,000 for a first offence; $5,000 for a second offence; and for subsequent offences the possibility of a fine up to $10,000 or six months imprisonment; or both for sole proprietorships. If a corporation fails to comply with its duties under this Act the graduated fine scheme would be up to $10,000, $50,000 and $100,000.
Child Pornography
Child pornography constitutes a serious form of child victimization. Not only are children sexually abused and exploited, but the continuing demand for production and use of child pornography objectifies all children as sexual objects for the sexual gratification of adult predators.
The World Wide Web provides new and easier means for offenders to make, view and distribute child pornography, resulting in a significant increase in the availability and volume of child pornography. There are also reports of an increased demand as well as an increase in material with violent content and/or showing children who are very young.
The Criminal Code’s existing child pornography provisions prohibit all forms of making, distributing, making available, accessing and possessing child pornography, including through the use of the Internet.
Children are also protected from sexual exploitation through provincial and territorial child welfare legislation, which permits the voluntary reporting of child pornography. The provincial approach adopted in Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia requires all citizens to report all forms of child pornography. The new federal legislation being proposed would provide for a uniform mandatory reporting regime across the country, one that would complement provincial and territorial efforts under their child welfare legislation.
ISPs and other providers of Internet services
The legislation covers more than just “Internet service providers” or “ISPs”, terms that are commonly used in relation to those who provide access to the Internet. The legislation would apply to all persons who provide an Internet service to the public. While this does include ISPs, it also includes those who provide electronic mail services, Internet content hosting services and social networking sites.
