70+ Senators/MPs Push The RCMP for criminal Investigation into MindGeek

Over seventy Senators & MPs representing all eight political parties and Senate groups have come together to issue a letter to the RCMP supporting the voices of survivors of child sexual abuse material and sexual assault material published on MindGeek/Pornhub.

Addressed to Brenda Lucki, Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the letter reads:

“We join the voices of over 100 survivors of sexual exploitation along with hundreds of non-governmental organizations to call for a full criminal investigation into MindGeek and its subsidiaries.

Over the past month, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics has heard shocking evidence from survivors and child protection agencies that MindGeek has regularly made available content featuring child sexual abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking.

Even more alarming, we have heard evidence that MindGeek continues to make available material featuring child sexual abuse material and non-consensual acts as one survivor testified to the Ethics Committee on February 19, 2021: “Thanks to Pornhub, today is day 1,292 that I have been naked on these porn sites.”

Canada has strong laws to combat this type of horrific exploitation such as Criminal Code sections 162.1, 163.1 and an Act Respecting the Mandatory Reporting of Internet Child Pornography by Persons Who Provide an Internet Service. However, these laws can only protect vulnerable individuals through robust investigation and application by law enforcement.

In the case of mandatory reporting, survivors, lawyers, and child protection agencies like the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and the U.S. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) have confirmed that MindGeek failed to comply and report to Canadian law enforcement between 2011 and 2020.

With numerous documented cases of child sexual abuse material published by MindGeek websites stretching back years, we were shocked to learn during the RCMP’s testimony on February 22, 2021 at the Ethics Committee that the RCMP had zero outstanding investigations regarding MindGeek.

It is absolutely unacceptable that a Canadian company continues to operate in Canada with seeming impunity to our laws. We expect Canada’s Royal Mounted Police to fulfil its mandate of combatting online child sexual abuse through proactive multi-jurisdictional investigations into every Canadian entity that contravenes our laws.”