On December 8, 2011, the federal Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service (formerly Bill C-22) came into force. The new legislation aims to protect children from online sexual exploitation, by requiring suppliers of Internet services to the public to:
- Report tips they receive regarding websites where child pornography may be publicly available to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection
- Notify police and safeguard evidence if they believe that a child pornography offence has been committed using an Internet service that they provide
This includes where the supplier or its employee has “reasonable grounds to believe” the Internet service is being used for this purpose. Suppliers of Internet services include companies that provide access to the Internet, email services, content hosting and related services, and social networking sites; for example, AOL, Windows Live, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Google, Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, Dropbox, and so on.
This legislation strengthens Canada’s ability to detect potential child pornography offences. It will help authorities identify, apprehend and prosecute offenders and reduce the availability of online child pornography. Most importantly, this legislation will help identify the victims so they may be rescued from sexual predators.
For more, read my latest post on Slaw.
Marie-Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor
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