Trudeau takes a swipe at Poilievre over his stance on age verification for porn

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that adults shouldn't have to share their personal information to access pornography online.

Speaking at a housing announcement in Cape Breton, Trudeau said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's endorsement of some sort of age-verification system for porn sites is something his party opposes.

«He's proposing that adults should have to give their ID and personal information to sketchy websites, or create a digital ID for adults to be able to browse the web where they want,» Trudeau said of Poilievre.

«That's something we stand against.»

Trudeau said Poilievre is «playing politics» by opposing the government's forthcoming online harms bill — which is meant to combat hate speech, terrorist content and some violent material on the internet — while also endorsing a crackdown on some other online content.

When asked Wednesday whether a Poilievre-led government would require that porn websites verify the age of users, Poilievre gave a one-word answer: «Yes.»

A spokesperson for Poilievre later told CBC News the party does not support requiring users to verify their age through a digital ID.

It isn't clear how a government led by Poilievre would enforce the age verification process he says he supports.

In a media statement issued Thursday, Poilievre's spokesperson said Conservatives believe adults should be «free to view what they like assuming the content itself is legal.»

«But children cannot legally purchase pornography in person, and most Canadians have accepted that fact for many decades. If Justin Trudeau believes that those same children should be able to freely access pornography online, he is free to say so,» said Sebastian Skamski.

The dispute over porn stems from the ongoing debate