Collective Shout welcomed the opportunity to provide a brief to assist Canada's House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in its examination of the conduct of MindGeek - Pornhub's parent company - including allegations of facilitating and distributing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), non-consensual sexual activity, non-consensually shared images (image-based abuse or IBA) and content created using victims of sex trafficking.
We commended the Committee for its investigation of MindGeek and efforts to hold its executives accountable for facilitating and profiting from sexual abuse and exploitation, and provided the Committee with evidence we had documented over several years, supporting allegations of MindGeek's complicity in criminal activity.
Drawing from evidence cited in our submissions to other significant inquiries, we made the following recommendations:
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MindGeek be held liable for hosting and disseminating content featuring the filmed sexual abuse of children, non-consensual sex acts, image-based abuse and victims of sex trafficking
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Prohibit the production and hosting of pornography featuring violence, torture and rape
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Take measures to prohibit the eroticisation and normalisation of child sexual abuse and exploitation, incest and paedophilia through all forms of pornography, including anime, manga, and related material featuring children
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Update relevant laws to hold corporates including big tech and e-commerce platforms accountable for facilitating distribution of child sexual exploitation material and take measures to block Facebook’s plans for end-to-end encryption
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Implement Age Verification globally
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Strengthen measures to address non-consensual image sharing/image-based abuse
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Expand education programs on the negative impact of pornography in shaping attitudes and behaviours, contributing to sexual harassment and coercion, and on consent and respectful relationships
Read the full submission here.
See our other submissions here.
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