Illegal videos on Pornhub: Ottawa says it's taking action against sexual exploitation
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government is fighting sexual exploitation and child pornography, following a column published by The New York Times alleging that the Pornhub platform, which is owned by a well-established company in Montreal, allows the publication of videos of minors and rapes.
Investigations have shown that there are “far too many illegal videos” on the Pornhub platform, says Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne, who says she is outraged by the revelations of the New York Times.
“ We have always been extremely concerned about gender-based violence, the exploitation of minors and child pornography, ” the Prime Minister said Friday outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa.
“ We will continue to work with police and security agencies and all possible means to ensure the safety of all Canadians, ” he continued.
The office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Steven Guilbeault, in turn indicated that " the production, distribution, possession or access to child pornography constitutes an offense in Canada ".
Child pornography " is frequently identified and removed from the Internet by Canadian law enforcement agencies, " said her press secretary.
The statements come after the New York Times published a text detailing the controversial, if not illegal, videos posted with impunity by one of the web porn giants.
Pornhub is one of more than 100 sites, production companies and brands owned by private conglomerate Mindgeek, run by Feras Antoon and David Tassillo, both Canadians, from Decarie Boulevard in Montreal.
After combing through the thousands of pornographic content on the Pornhub site, the New York Times says a worrying number of videos show minors or people who have not given their consent.
Journalist Nicholas Kristof also spoke with victims who found themselves overnight, against their will, on this platform. Several of them told him that they tried to kill themselves after seeing that compromising videos were found online.
In addition to allowing anyone to upload content to the platform, it allows users to download the videos in turn. Result: although content is removed at the request of the authorities, it can resurface at any time.
“ So my question for Trudeau and all Canadians: Why is Canada home to a company that shows rape videos to the world? Asks Nicholas Kristof.
Requests that have gone unheeded
In the House of Commons, a group of parliamentarians recently urged the Trudeau government to take action to crack down on Pornhub and its parent company, who allegedly profit from " mass sex crimes ."
Addressed to the Federal Minister of Justice, David Lametti, this letter followed a previous letter, sent in the spring, asking the Prime Minister to launch an investigation into the matter.
Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne, who is part of this group of parliamentarians, indicated at the microphone of 15-18 , on the airwaves of ICI Première, to have received no answer to her questions, despite her interventions in the Senate and the publication of open letters.
Last February, the senator introduced a bill against modern slavery , which aims to end the importation of products made by children or resulting from forced labor, by forcing big companies to show more transparency.
There is talk of " revenge porn [ revenge porn ], when, after a break, we put on Pornhub videos of the woman we left.
This is simply revolting, ”she insisted.
Julie Miville-Dechêne believes that we must now act. Especially since the federal government is " very aware of this problem, " she said. “ If our laws are not enough, let's change them! "
Upon his arrival as Minister, Steven Guilbeault was notably mandated to work on the creation of new rules to govern social media activities, " starting by demanding that all platforms eliminate illegal content, including hate speech. , within 24 hours, under penalty of significant penalties ”, we can read in the mandate letter, dated December 13, 2019.
The office of Minister Guilbeault said that regulations for online platforms, which precisely aims to "make them accountable and accountable on the requirement to eliminate illegal content ", should see the light of day this winter.
“ We will continue to work with police and security agencies and all possible means to ensure the safety of all Canadians, ” he continued.
The office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Steven Guilbeault, in turn indicated that " the production, distribution, possession or access to child pornography constitutes an offense in Canada ".
Child pornography " is frequently identified and removed from the Internet by Canadian law enforcement agencies, " said her press secretary.
The statements come after the New York Times published a text detailing the controversial, if not illegal, videos posted with impunity by one of the web porn giants.
Pornhub is one of more than 100 sites, production companies and brands owned by private conglomerate Mindgeek, run by Feras Antoon and David Tassillo, both Canadians, from Decarie Boulevard in Montreal.
After combing through the thousands of pornographic content on the Pornhub site, the New York Times says a worrying number of videos show minors or people who have not given their consent.
Journalist Nicholas Kristof also spoke with victims who found themselves overnight, against their will, on this platform. Several of them told him that they tried to kill themselves after seeing that compromising videos were found online.
In addition to allowing anyone to upload content to the platform, it allows users to download the videos in turn. Result: although content is removed at the request of the authorities, it can resurface at any time.
“ So my question for Trudeau and all Canadians: Why is Canada home to a company that shows rape videos to the world? Asks Nicholas Kristof.
Requests that have gone unheeded
In the House of Commons, a group of parliamentarians recently urged the Trudeau government to take action to crack down on Pornhub and its parent company, who allegedly profit from " mass sex crimes ."
Addressed to the Federal Minister of Justice, David Lametti, this letter followed a previous letter, sent in the spring, asking the Prime Minister to launch an investigation into the matter.
Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne, who is part of this group of parliamentarians, indicated at the microphone of 15-18 , on the airwaves of ICI Première, to have received no answer to her questions, despite her interventions in the Senate and the publication of open letters.
Last February, the senator introduced a bill against modern slavery , which aims to end the importation of products made by children or resulting from forced labor, by forcing big companies to show more transparency.
There is talk of " revenge porn [ revenge porn ], when, after a break, we put on Pornhub videos of the woman we left.
This is simply revolting, ”she insisted.
Julie Miville-Dechêne believes that we must now act. Especially since the federal government is " very aware of this problem, " she said. “ If our laws are not enough, let's change them! "
Upon his arrival as Minister, Steven Guilbeault was notably mandated to work on the creation of new rules to govern social media activities, " starting by demanding that all platforms eliminate illegal content, including hate speech. , within 24 hours, under penalty of significant penalties ”, we can read in the mandate letter, dated December 13, 2019.
The office of Minister Guilbeault said that regulations for online platforms, which precisely aims to "make them accountable and accountable on the requirement to eliminate illegal content ", should see the light of day this winter.