Justin Trudeau took an unprompted jab at his main political rival on Thursday over a Senate porn bill that the prime minister said could usher in a digital ID for adults who want to browse certain websites.

Trudeau accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of 鈥渟preading lies鈥� about the Liberal government鈥檚 upcoming online harms legislation 鈥� even while supporting a bill that would create online restrictions.

鈥淚nstead of stepping up to stand for protecting our kids through responsible, serious legislation, he鈥檚 proposing that adults should instead give their ID and personal information to sketchy websites, or create a digital ID for adults to be able to browse the web the way they want to,鈥� Trudeau said after a press conference in Nova Scotia.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 something we stand against and disagree with.鈥�

On Wednesday, Poilievre confirmed that his party supports a bill that would require porn sites to verify users鈥� ages, and that a future Conservative government would legislate the same.

Bill S-210 passed in the Senate in the spring and New Democrats, Bloc Qu茅b茅cois and Conservative MPs voted to send it to a House of Commons committee for study, while a majority of Liberals voted against it.

The bill introduced by Sen. Julie Miville-Dech锚ne, a member of the Independent Senators Group, does not specify how age would be verified.

Options for enforcement include the creation of a digital government ID or the requirement that users scan their face using a webcam so that their approximate age can be determined 鈥� both methods the Tories say they disapprove of.

Miville-Dech锚ne said in a statement Thursday that 鈥渁ge verification to access online porn is not a partisan issue鈥� and pointed to other jurisdictions that have drafted such laws, including France, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

In France, a digital certificate is being explored, while the European Union is set to roll out a personal digital wallet for each of its citizens to use online.

The U.K. has said methods it鈥檚 looking into include verifying ages through photo ID matching, facial age estimation and credit card checks.

Miville-Dech锚ne said 鈥渁ccredited third parties鈥� would conduct age verification rather than government or porn sites, and defended the fact her bill doesn鈥檛 specify how the law would be applied.

鈥淎pproving specific age-verification methods will be done in regulations, after extensive consultations,鈥� she said.

鈥淭his is the normal way of proceeding and it鈥檚 what other jurisdictions have done: identifying appropriate age-verification mechanisms is a technical issue, the technology evolves constantly, and we cannot pass a bill that becomes obsolete after a few months.鈥�

Nonetheless, privacy experts have expressed concerns over the potential impacts of the use of facial recognition technology or requiring users to hand over personal information to third-party sites.

But the Conservatives 鈥� including Ontario MP Karen Vecchio, who is sponsoring the bill in the Commons 鈥� haven鈥檛 proposed any alternative methods to enforce the prospective law.

Conservatives say they support the bill because children should not be able to freely access pornography online, similar to how children can not legally purchase pornography in person.

鈥淛ustin Trudeau is doing what he knows how to do best 鈥� deceiving and dividing Canadians, this time misleading them on the effects of a bill that has the support of MPs from every party, including members of his own Liberal caucus,鈥� Sebastian Skamski, a spokesperson for Poilievre, said in a statement Thursday.

He was referring to 15 Liberal backbenchers who voted alongside Tories to send the bill to committee.

Poilievre also took a shot Wednesday at the online harms legislation the Liberal government is expected to table in the coming weeks.

The Tory leader said it is part of 鈥淛ustin Trudeau鈥檚 woke authoritarian agenda鈥� and will be an 鈥渁ttack on freedom of expression.鈥�

Trudeau said the legislation is meant to protect children from sexual exploitation and bullying on the internet.

鈥淲e keep kids safe in the school yard. We keep kids safe in our communities. We need to do a better job as a society keeping kids safe online,鈥� he said Thursday.

Trudeau said Poilievre鈥檚 rhetoric was 鈥渃oncerning鈥� given the Tories haven鈥檛 seen the bill yet and don鈥檛 know what it contains.

鈥淪o I think this is yet another example of Pierre Poilievre being irresponsible and not serious and choosing to play politics instead of actually focusing on what matters, which is how to keep our kids safe.鈥�

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