The federal heritage minister will soon introduce legislation aimed at compelling companies to do a better job of policing illegal content posted online — something victims of child pornography and their advocates have long called for.
"I think there needs to be intense legislation ... because these things are like a cancer," said a Canadian woman. CBC News has agreed not to reveal her identity for her protection.
"They just grow and grow and grow. Whoever is managing them right now isn't doing a good job."
The woman said she was 14 when she performed sexual acts online with a man who professed to be her boyfriend, but who was secretly recording her.
"I started getting links of me on Pornhub ... all these websites that I didn't even know existed. Constantly having to relive my trauma," she said.
Stalked and harassed online and in real life, she spent years trying to get social media platforms and adult websites to remove the explicit video of her, sometimes sending emails impersonating lawyers or her parents.
Removing the burden from victims
Now, the federal government is working on legislation that may help rein in the darker elements of the online world.
Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault says his department is working on legislation "to move the burden of being able to take down a video from the individual who's a victim of this to the companies."
A December 2019 mandate letter sent to Guilbeault by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for his department to create new regulations that would require social media platforms and adult websites operating in Canada to remove illegal content within 24 hours or face "significant penalties."
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