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The federal government is moving to restrict young Canadians’ access to social media unless those companies can show they’ve made their platforms safe.
Culture Minister Marc Miller introduced his long-awaited online harms bill in the House of Commons on Wednesday, which also puts in some controls around artificial intelligence chatbots.
“We’re failing our children. Enough is enough,” Miller said. “We need basic protection in place so every child in this country can be safe on platforms they use every day.”
Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, sets out three core duties for regulated services: the duty to protect children, the duty to act responsibly and the duty to make certain content inaccessible.
The Liberal bill would force social media services — defined as traditional social media platforms, live-streaming services and adult content services focused on user-shared content — to restrict accounts for children under 16 years old.
WATCH | The proposal is similar to a law passed by Australia:
Canada should learn from Australia’s social media ban, observers say
As calls grow for Canada to restrict social media for youth, some observers say officials should learn from Australia’s experiences, including how teens are getting around the ban.
However, services could seek an exemption if they implement what officials briefing reporters called adequate safeguards to protect children. The exemption wouldn’t apply to adult content services.
The exemption will be based on criteria to be determined later through regulations, said officials.
It remains unclear when the ban would come into effect and how long it would take for exemptions to be granted. Officials estimate it could take 18 months to set up the regulator after the bill becomes law.
Chatbots must respond to violent ideation
The bill, which has to be passed by Parliament before becoming law, also sets out criteria for AI chatbots, public-facing services that can mimic human relationships, including the obligation to reduce the risk of harmful content being generated by their services.
AI chatbots will need measures to respond when a user expresses ideas of suicide or self harm or an intention to commit an act that could cause death or serious bodily harm to an individual, said officials. The bill would not require the companies behind the chatbots to report those interactions to police.
The government proposes setting up a Digital Safety Commission to make sure companies abide. Once set up, it would be responsible for enforcing the act, developing regulations and guidance, assessing compliance and managing complaints.
According to the bill, the maximum penalty for a violation would be either $10 million or three per cent of the company’s gross global revenue — whichever is greater. Companies could face multiple penalties for repeated violations.
The federal government has been signalling some kind of ban for children and young teens for months. Ottawa, like governments around the world, is under pressure from parents and advocates to address social media’s addictive features and limit access to predatory and sometimes dangerous content. Psychologists have been warning that design features like infinite scroll are impacting teens’ self-esteem and mental health.
The Canadian government has also faced calls to regulate AI chatbots following the Tumbler Ridge, B.C., mass shooting earlier this year. In the wake of the tragedy, it emerged that OpenAI did not share internal warnings with law enforcement about messages sent to its chatbot, the immensely popular ChatGPT, by the shooter.
Canada learning from Australia, say officials
With Wednesday’s bill, Canada joins a wave of countries moving to curb children’s access to social media, with mixed results.
Australia became the first country late last year to set a minimum age to possess an account on TikTok, YouTube and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook.
However kids have reportedly been able to get around the restrictions. Canadian officials told reporters they are learning from Australia and other jurisdictions, stressing there’s no system that is 100 per cent effective.
A previous attempt to pass an online harms bill was marked by controversy and died when former prime minister Justin Trudeau prorogued Parliament in early 2025.
That bill included Criminal Code and Canadian Human Rights Act amendments that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said would chill free speech.
Conservatives have said they want to review the new bill before commenting.
