As the month of October came to a close, Canada’s House of Commons passed Bill S-209 at its second reading. Now the bill —that would make porn sites check users’ ages and could let regulators block sites that don’t— is in the committee review.
S-209 Moves On
The Commons approved S-209 at second reading on October 28, “on division,” meaning it passed without a recorded head count, per the official Parliament record. Now it goes to the Commons’ Human Resources committee (known as HUMA) for study. No committee meetings are scheduled yet.
S-209 is a Senate bill from Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne. The Senate passed it this past spring after conservative MP Rosemarie Falk sponsored it in the Commons, where debate began in September.
Law professor Michael Geist reports that the liberal government backed sending it to committee even though it had opposed the earlier version, called Bill S-210. Also worth noting, the government already has its own online safety bill, C-34, which requires age checks for porn. Geist says the two bills now risk running side by side.
Competing Bills to Clash?
“The shift surprised even the bill’s sponsor, and it opens the door to a two-pronged regulatory model that doubles down on age verification,” Geist shares on his blog. He also lists several clashes between the two bills: 1) they define pornography differently, so a new regulator could end up enforcing two definitions. 2) C-34 only covers large social media and chatbot services above a size limit set by the cabinet, and 3) S-209 covers any site that sells porn online, with no size limit.
Geist also warns S-209 could give the planned Digital Safety Commission power to seek court orders blocking websites. A long-time critic of the bill, Geist’s analysis is worth reading. Wet Ink will follow his reporting and keep out reader updated as the bill progresses.
