Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics - Protection of Privacy and Reputation on Platforms such as Pornhub - April 12, 2021

ETHI Committee – Online Harms/Safety (MindGeek)

Responsive Q&A:

If asked why the Criminal Code and MRA refer to child pornography but some sources refer to other terms such as child sexual abuse materials:

• Canada’s criminal laws refer to child pornography because this is a well understood concept and a defined term in international instruments and aligns with Canada’s international commitments.
• That said, we recognize that in recent years some have preferred to use terms such as “child sexual abuse material” to refer to the same material though it is not a term that is used or defined in the relevant international instruments, it is considered preferable by many in order to better reflect the serious nature of the crime. Canada’s approach, while still relying on the term child pornography to maintain consistency with international instruments, captures a broad range of activity in that it applies to all material (visual, written, audio) that depicts the sexual abuse of a young person under 18 years or depicts their sexual organs for a sexual purpose.

If asked how many prosecutions have occurred under the MRA:

• To our knowledge, there has only been one successful prosecution under the MRA, in Ontario. (Re YesUp Ecommerce Solutions Inc., 2013, Ontario Superior Court of Justice).