Bill Designed to Protect Youth Online May Give Ottawa More Censorship Control, Internet Expert Says

A government bill to restrict underage access to pornography may hinder the privacy of Canadians and give Ottawa stronger online censorship control, according to an internet expert. Law professor and Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-Commerce Law Michael Geist recently raised concerns about the enforcement measures tucked into Bill S-210. “Bill S-210 goes well beyond personal choices to limit underage access to sexually explicit material on Canadian sites. Instead, it envisions government-enforced global website liability for failure to block underage access, backed by website blocking and mandated age verification systems that are likely to include face recognition technologies,” Mr. Geist wrote on his blog....