Given that a minimum of 100,000 ( up to approx. 250,000) Canadians rely on adult entertainment as their sole source of income to feed and house themselves and their families, consideration must be given to the perspectives and experiences of these workers and legal industry.
By Susan Davis – September 29, 2022
In 2021, the Government of Canada began public consultations about a proposed “Digital Regulator” and related infrastructure. The regulation framework was proposed as a way to address hate speech, terrorist content, “fake news”/ misinformation and of course … Adult Content.
A series of Bills have been tabled which have dangerous implications for sex workers and adult content creators. So many in fact it has been difficult for under funded sex worker organizations to keep up!
It all seems to be culminating however in Bill C-11 which is now being studied in Committee at the Senate of Canada. Watching the hearings and witness testimony has done little to waylay sex workers fears as the Vice Chair of the Committee is a well known anti sex work crusader and tabled some of the legislation referred to previously.
It seems the government are interested in taking control of the search algorithms and controlling or “editing” what search results are presented to Canadians. Facial recognition technology is front and center in some aspects and the only mention of sex work or adult content is in the context of exploitation. It is disturbing to hear some of the perspectives on our community and terrifying to imagine that people who know so little about us, hold the key to the safety of our lives and families.
The BC Coalition of Experiential Communities have been working to build allies and raise awareness of concerns sex workers have about Bill C-11. We will continue to work to bring the voice of our communities to the table as the government moves these initiatives forward.
The following is our submission to the Digital Citizen Initiative which is referenced in the construction of the foundation of this Bill under the Minister of Canadian Heritage;
Digital Citizen Initiative
Department of Canadian Heritage
September 25th, 2021
Proposed Legislative changes and Regulatory Bodies
For the purpose of this submission, I represent the BC Coalition of Experiential Communities;
The BC Coalition of Experiential Communities are a consortium of sex workers who are activists mandated as a mechanism for the voices of experiential people to support the development of legislation and policies; peer driven programs and services; and work toward the elimination of oppressive systems and forces that create harm within the sex industry.
I am writing today to express the reasons why adult entertainers/ sex workers must be included in any actions, proposed legislative changes and “advisory bodies” which will govern the proposed regulatory bodies of on-line content.
Sex workers are the experts on our lives and safety. Any legislation which could impact the lives and safety of sex workers in Canada must include our voices and perspective.
Canadian Human Rights Act
The General Assembly,
Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Sex Workers note that the UN Charter of Human Rights addresses a broader cross section of society and works to include all people who experience discrimination. The Canadian Charter does not go as far and excludes key phrases and wording which prevent sex workers from holding to account those people who violate our human rights with complacency in an on-going way.
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
If the government is revising the Canadian Human Rights Act, Sex workers and our community respectfully request that this detail – “other status” – is added to Canadian legislation to better reflect the original spirit of the UN Charter.
Sex workers regularly experience hate crimes and discrimination.
Bushby, then 18, was a passenger in the vehicle driving along McKenzie Street on the city’s south side during the early morning of Jan. 29, 2017. Bushby, who was drinking heavily, had said he wanted to drive around and yell at sex-trade workers.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/brayden-bushby-barbara-kentner-sentencing-1.6056010
While this prosecutor declared this was a hate crime against women, it was actually a more specific targeting of an easily identifiable and discriminated against group, sex workers.
He knew he could get away with driving around harassing and being violent towards sex workers. He knew that no one cared about a sector of society cast by the government and Canadians as “less than”, “dirty” or “disposable”.
Even the sentence he received reflects the hatred of sex workers in society more broadly. If he had killed anyone else, he would have received life in prison.
Any discussions about sex work in the public sphere are rife with falsehoods, ideology and morally based arguments which have no place in discussions about the lives and safety of Canadian citizens, PEOPLE.
The rhetoric which is always loudest and front and center in any conversations about sex work have created this perception of sex workers as damaged, reasonable casualties in the war on “trafficking” and as an evil needing to be “removed” from society.
When we discuss adult film/ pornography it is NOT some megalithic “thing” to be hated and destroyed. It is people, working to feed and house themselves and their families.
Violent and targeted terrorist attacks on sex workers in their work places in Atlanta and Toronto demonstrate this hatred of sex workers and the ways in which this hatred, promoted by those wishing to abolish our community and by the Canadian Government, plays out in real world acts of violence. This violence is not theoretical, it is real and predictable.
Since the Canadian Human Rights Act is already being revised to accommodate the new approaches being proposed here, Sex workers request;
- The addition of “occupation” or “other status” to Section 2 of the Act – Purpose.
- The addition of “occupation” or “other status” to all provisions of the Act to ensure people working in sex work or adult entertainment more broadly do not face discrimination in any of the ways detailed in the Act.
- That all relevant systems of complaint are given guidance on how the Act protects sex workers and adult entertainers from discrimination and how to apply that new protection under the charter as a separate and distinct group often targeted for violence, terrorism and hatred as a result of their occupational status.
Our community deserve the same protections as other easily identifiable groups. We deserve to be protected from violence, terrorism, discrimination and hatred in all the ways outlined in the Act.
Since the government have already opened the act for revision, now is the time for that recognition and inclusion as targets of violence, terrorism, hatred and discrimination who qualify as distinct and easily identifiable group.
Establishment of new Regulators
Canadians agree that the current “wild west” status of the internet causes problems on many levels and that some form of regulation is required in order to protect people from all of the harms outlined in the proposed processes.
However, nowhere in the proposed mechanisms are sex workers or adult entertainers mentioned.
Given that a minimum of 100,000 ( up to approx. 250,000) Canadians rely on adult entertainment as their sole source of income to feed and house themselves and their families, consideration must be given to the perspectives and experiences of these workers and legal industry.
The adult entertainment community of workers and entrepreneurs are asking for the following additions and changes to the framework as outlined in both the Discussion document and Technical document;
- Module 1(a) – New Legislative and Regulatory Framework
- Recognize that OCS is used by more than 100,000 Canadians as their sole means of income in the legal adult entertainment sector.
- Addition to (c) – Consider that the hatred spread online often has a disproportionate impact on women, Indigenous Peoples, members of racialized and religious minority communities and on LGBTQ2 and gender-diverse communities, persons with disabilities and people working in the adult entertainment sector;
- Application
- The Act should include definitions of content which is NOT harmful to ensure that legal work in the adult entertainment sector is not impacted by ideological opinions and efforts to counter exploitation or “end the sex industry”.
- Specific definitions to ensure that this safe, legal employment sector is not undermined by hateful expressions of myths about sex workers lives. That truth about sex work and adult entertainment, ethical research which meets the test of the Tr-Council Policy Statement (2) are only used to inform any actions taken to counter exploitation in the adult sector.
- The Act should specifically state that impartiality is a critical feature of any regulation of the adult sector and that sweeping statements, based in hatred, are not entertained or allowed to influence any regulation of or enforcement against this legal employment sector.
- Module 1(B): New Rules and Obligations
- General Obligations – 10(a) –The Act should provide that an OCSP must take measures to ensure that the implementation and operation of the procedures, practices, rules and systems, including any automated decision making, put in place for the purpose of moderating harmful content that is communicated on its OCS and that is accessible to persons in Canada, do not result in differential treatment of any group, including adult entertainers and sex workers, based on a prohibited ground of discrimination within the meaning of the Canadian Human Rights Act and in accordance with regulations. (this addition needs to be specifically added so as to prevent misuse of rules by anti sex work zealots)
- 14. The Act should provide that an OCSP must generate and provide reports on a scheduled basis to the Digital Safety Commissioner on Canada-specific data about:
18. [D] The Act should provide the Digital Safety Commissioner with the authority, with the approval of the Governor in Council, to establish an Incident Response Protocol for the purpose of implementing the Christchurch Call to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online and reducing the online communication of content relating to terrorist activities. The Incident Response Protocol would respond to an act or omission as described in the definition of “terrorist content” tied to an emergent, ongoing, or recently concluded real-world attack in Canada, or outside of Canada when content is shared on one or more Canadian-based OCSs.
Sex workers and adult entertainers would like to point out that the attacks in Toronto and Atlanta against massage parlor workers would qualify under this provision. This would require the removal of hateful/ untrue/ malicious content by anti sex work organizations and which has lead directly real world acts of violence and terror against the Canadian sex working community.
Content created by those groups actively promoting hatred of sex workers is wide spread and widely available in Canada and after an attack like the Toronto attack, we would hope to see those OCSP who host this kind of hateful content held to account and that content removed.
We would also hope to see any funding of these individuals and organizations via public money stopped in respect of the inherent threat they pose to the sex working community in Canada.
- Module 1(C): Establishment of the new regulators
- Digital Safety Commissioner
Establishment and Function
35. The Act should provide for the establishment of the Digital Safety Commissioner, whose functions are to:
(a) Oversee and improve online content moderation, by:
1. Administering and enforcing obligations;
Ensuring balanced and unbiased consideration of complaints about the legal adult entertainment sector and which reflects an understanding of the negative impacts actions taken may have on the lives and safety of Canadians working in adult entertainment and their families.
2. Engaging with and considering the particular needs of and barriers faced by groups disproportionately affected by harmful online content such as women and girls, Indigenous Peoples, members of racialized communities and religious minorities and of LGBTQ2 and gender-diverse communities, persons with disabilities and people working in sex work or the adult entertainment sector; and
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Supporting platforms in reducing harmful content affecting peoples in Canada.
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- Composition
- 38. The Act should provide that a person appointed as Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner must declare any conflict of interest, in particular any history of a private interest in the abolition of the sex industry, and must not be a shareholder of an OCS or OCSP.
- Digital Recourse Council of Canada
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Composition
46. The Act should provide that the Digital Recourse Council of Canada will be composed of no fewer than three (3) and no more than five (5) members, appointed by the Governor in Council. The Governor in Council will designate one (1) member as the Chairperson and may designate one (1) member as the Vice-Chairperson. The Act should provide that in appointing members, the Governor in Council shall take into consideration the importance of diverse subject-matter experts reflective of the Canadian population, particularly inclusive of women, Indigenous Peoples, members of racialized communities and religious minorities, of LGBTQ2 and gender-diverse communities, persons with disabilities and sex workers.
Sex workers note that the proposed limit of commission members is 5 but the stakeholder groups number 8. This is a fundamental flaw with the proposed Commission and the number of members should reflect the number of groups identified by the government and sex industry representatives.
48. The Act should provide that the Digital Recourse Council of Canada’s members must declare any conflict of interest, including a private interest in the abolition of the sex industry, and must not be a shareholder of an OCS or OCSP.
Sex workers know that those people who promote hatred of our community are lining up to be appointed to this committee/ council which will have power over our lives and safety. Any person who holds a private interest in the abolition of the sex industry must NOT be granted a position on the Council. It is a conflict of interest and has inherent tangible value to those who base their income and power on the oppression of the sex industry community via promotion of hatred, bias assertions and the ideology of all sex work being violence
Adult Entertainment and adult film work are legal in this country and represent a large percentage of people employed via use of OCSP. Any actions proposed which could undermine our lives, safety, ability to feed and house ourselves and our families must consider those impacts and seek feedback/ input from our community before being adopted.
The legal adult entertainment sector must have a place on this Council and be recognized as critical to the success of it’s stated goals.
71. The Act should provide for the establishment of an Advisory Board composed of no more than seven (7) members who are appointed by the Minister at pleasure. The Act should provide that the Minister consider the importance of inclusive membership of the Advisory Board reflective of the Canadian population, particularly inclusive of women, Indigenous Peoples, members of racialized communities and religious minorities, of LGBTQ2 and gender-diverse communities, persons with disabilities and sex workers.
72. The Act should provide that in appointing members, the Minister take into consideration the importance of having members that are knowledgeable about or have experience related to law, technology, equity and social science, and are drawn from advocacy groups, including civil liberties, equity or victim advocacy organizations, the online communication industry, adult entertainment workers and academia.
Conclusion
Canadian Adult entertainers have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and many have turned to OCPS to feed and house themselves and their families via legal income. From the beginning the adult industry has had a large presence on the internet and has provided safer work options for sex working people in Canada.
Any regulation or regulator being created must include representatives from this legal industry and ensure that ideological opinions and goals of a few anti sex industry zealots do not undermine the human rights of Canadians who work or are entrepreneurs in this sector.
Those people who hold a private interest in the abolition of the sex industry must NOT be given power over our lives and safety. They have proven time and time again to know no depths when it comes to achieving those personal private interests and have no ethics in how they reach those goals.
This Submission outlining some of the issues with the proposed regulatory framework only begins to highlight the glaring omissions of these provisions and proposed mechanisms.
The potential for biased and dangerous actions against the sex industry community are predictable and overt.
The only solution is sex industry representation and inclusion in both the Canadian Human Rights Act and the development of the regulatory processes being outlined here.
I will remind the reader that as public servants, you have sworn an oath of office. That oath binds you to impartiality and preventing the appearance of a conflict of interest. I have seen 4 different Codes of Conduct which demand that the sex industry is represented and included and that hate crimes/ hate speech against our community is addressed. The rules governing Conflict of Interest also demand that those groups and individuals who hold a private interest in the abolition of the sex industry must not be given power over our lives and safety.
I am available at any time to discuss these issues and how Canada can respect the rights and safety of all citizens in this work to address harmful content on the internet in particular as it relates to terrorism against and promotion of hatred of my community, sex workers.
Susan Davis
Director
BC Coalition of Experiential Communities
604-671-2345
