Trudeau jabs Poilievre over bill that could usher in digital ID for porn browsing
Justin Trudeau took an unprompted jab at his foremost political rival on Thursday over a Senate porn invoice that the prime minister mentioned may usher in a digital ID for adults who need to browse sure web sites.
Trudeau accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of “spreading lies” in regards to the Liberal authorities’s upcoming on-line harms laws — even whereas supporting a invoice that might create on-line restrictions.
“Instead of stepping up to stand for protecting our kids through responsible, serious legislation, he’s proposing that adults should instead give their ID and personal information to sketchy websites, or create a digital ID for adults to be able to browse the web the way they want to,” Trudeau mentioned after a press convention in Nova Scotia.
“That’s something we stand against and disagree with.”
On Wednesday, Poilievre confirmed that his occasion helps a invoice that might require porn websites to confirm customers’ ages, and {that a} future Conservative authorities would legislate the identical.
Bill S-210 handed within the Senate within the spring and New Democrats, Bloc Québécois and Conservative MPs voted to ship it to a House of Commons committee for research, whereas Liberals voted in opposition to it.
The invoice launched by Sen. Julie Miville-Dechêne, a member of the Independent Senators Group, doesn’t specify how age could be verified.
Options for enforcement embrace the creation of a digital authorities ID or the requirement that customers scan their face utilizing a webcam in order that their approximate age could be decided — each strategies the Tories say they disapprove of.
Privacy specialists have expressed issues over the potential impacts of the usage of facial recognition know-how or requiring customers handy over private data to third-party websites.
But the Conservatives — together with Ontario MP Karen Vecchio, who’s sponsoring the invoice within the Commons — haven’t proposed any different strategies to implement the potential legislation.
At the identical press convention in Kitchener, Ont., on Wednesday, Poilievre took a shot on the on-line harms laws the Liberal authorities is anticipated to desk within the coming weeks.
The Tory chief mentioned it’s a part of “Justin Trudeau’s woke authoritarian agenda” and will probably be an “attack on freedom of expression.”
Trudeau mentioned the laws is supposed to guard youngsters from sexual exploitation and bullying on the web.
“We keep kids safe in the school yard. We keep kids safe in our communities. We need to do a better job as a society keeping kids safe online,” he mentioned Thursday.
Trudeau mentioned Poilievre’s rhetoric was “concerning” given the Tories haven’t seen the invoice but and don’t know what it incorporates.
“So I think this is yet another example of Pierre Poilievre being irresponsible and not serious and choosing to play politics instead of actually focusing on what matters, which is how to keep our kids safe.”
