A new Canadian Senate proposal on age verification has raised serious questions about the future of free expression and online access.
The bill’s sponsor has confirmed that the government would have the authority to decide which websites fall under its control, including platforms that have nothing to do with pornography.
Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne, who introduced Bill S-209, told a Senate committee that enforcement would ultimately be at the discretion of the federal government. “The government will decide on the scope, so the government could decide to include social media like X in its choices,” she said.
That statement cuts to the core of the controversy. The Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act was introduced as a measure aimed at sites that make adult content available for commercial purposes.
Yet, according to its sponsor, the government could extend it to any platform where some form of explicit content can be found, even if it is incidental or user-generated.
Bill S-209 completed its second reading in the Senate on June 12, 2025, and is now under committee review, which last met on October 9.
If passed, it would empower the government to impose mandatory age ID verification requirements across a wide range of online services. Those who fail to comply could face court-ordered blocking by Canadian internet service providers.
Although the proposal is framed as protecting minors, its broad wording leaves the door open for the government to demand compliance from social media companies, search engines, or discussion forums where adult material may appear in isolated cases.
Under Section 12, the Cabinet is granted full regulatory authority to determine which sites are covered and to set the rules for verification technologies.
This level of discretion means that, in practice, the government could decide that any site must collect and verify users’ ages through ID checks and could restrict access to those that do not.
The implications for privacy and online freedom are substantial. Mandatory age verification would force Canadians to submit personal identification to third-party services, many of which operate outside the country. That could expose citizens to significant privacy risks and data misuse, all for the ability to visit websites that host lawful content.
Beyond privacy, the inclusion of website blocking provisions raises the possibility of state-controlled filtering of the internet. Lawful platforms could be rendered inaccessible nationwide, not because they broke any law, but because they declined to collect user data in compliance with a government order.
