Canada’s Bill S-210

Internet bill S-210, An Act to restrict young persons’ online access to sexually explicit material, aims to protect Canadian youth but instead could drastically alter Canada’s online landscape for everyone.

Like various proposed US age-verification laws, it would not affect the Archive of Our Own (AO3) because AO3 is not a commercial website. However, it would introduce serious risks to Canadians’ ability to securely access content on the internet, regardless of their age or of whether or not that content is sexually explicit.

S-210 creates liability not just for providers of adult content, but for internet service providers (ISPs) as well. Age verification requires providing personal information to an ISP, where it can create security and privacy risks. Separately, ISPs would also need to view content passing through their services. The latter task is mostly impossible because internet traffic is often encrypted for security purposes. To comply with potential orders issued under S-210, ISPs would need to reject encrypted traffic, which would leave Canadians either cut off from large portions of the internet or exposed to significant security risks due to unencrypted data. Internet Society has a detailed breakdown of how all of this would work in practice.

If you live in Canada and are concerned about this bill, you can email your MP to voice your opposition via OpenMedia’s pre-drafted campaign form, or you can contact your MP directly. You can also check out the text of the bill for yourself.

---

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.