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

Additional information on the MRA

In 2011, Canada enacted an Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service (referred to as the Mandatory Reporting Act or MRA).

Brief Summary

The MRA is a federal criminal statute that places obligations on those who provide an Internet service to the public, for example, access providers and content producers and hosts. It requires them to report to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (which oversees Cybertip.ca – Canada’s anonymous tipline for online child sexual exploitation material) if they are advised of an Internet address where child pornography may be available to the public, or to law enforcement if they have reasonable grounds to believe that their Internet service is being or has been used to commit a child pornography offence. The service provider must also preserve all computer data related to the required notification for 21 days following the notification. It must not disclose that it has made a report or notification, or disclose the contents of the report or notification, if the disclosure could prejudice a criminal investigation, whether or not a criminal investigation has begun. The company may remove the content voluntarily pursuant to its terms of service, or may be ordered by the court to do so, pursuant to section 164.1 of the Criminal Code.

Key Provisions

Section 10: Every person who knowingly contravenes any of sections 2 to 5 is guilty of an offence.

Section 2: If a person is advised, in the course of providing an Internet service to the public, of an Internet Protocol address or a Uniform Resource Locator where child pornography may be available to the public, the person must report that address or Uniform Resource Locator to the organization designated by the regulations, as soon as feasible and in accordance with the regulations. The regulations designate the Canadian Centre for Child Protection as that organization.

Section 3: If a person who provides an Internet service to the public has reasonable grounds to believe that their Internet service is being or has been used to commit a child pornography offence, the person must notify an officer, constable or other person employed for the preservation and maintenance of the public peace of that fact, as soon as feasible and in accordance with the regulations.

Section 4: A person who makes a notification under section 3 must preserve all computer data related to the notification that is in their possession or control for 21 days after the day on which the notification is made, and that the person must destroy the computer data that would not be retained in the ordinary course of business and any document that is prepared for the purpose of preserving computer data under this section as soon as feasible after the expiry of the 21 day period, unless the person is required to preserve the computer data by a judicial order made under any other Act of Parliament or the legislature of a province.

Section 5: A person must not disclose that they have made a report under section 2 or a notification under section 3, or disclose the contents of a report or notification, if the disclosure could prejudice a criminal investigation, whether or not a criminal investigation has begun.

There are also other provisions in the MRA that may be relevant to an investigation and prosecution of an offence under the MRA, and in particular:

Section 1 defines child pornography with a cross-reference to subsection 163.1(1) of the Criminal Code, and a child pornography offence as an offence under subsections 163.1(2), (3), (4) and (4.1) of the Criminal Code, which refer to making, distribution, possession and accessing of child pornography.

Section 1 defines Internet service as a service providing Internet access, Internet content hosting or electronic mail.

Section 9: a person who has reported information in compliance with an obligation to report child pornography under the laws of a province or a foreign jurisdiction is deemed to have complied with section 2 of the Act in relation to that information.

Section 11: a prosecution for an offence under the MRA cannot be commenced more than 2 years after the time when the act or omission giving rise to the prosecution occurred.