Canada Introduces Safe Social Media Act to Ban Social Media Accounts for Children Under 16

Canada has introduced the Safe Social Media Act as part of Bill C-34, proposing to ban children under the age of 16 from having social media accounts.

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The legislation would require safety measures on social media services and AI chatbots, and it would need approval by both the House of Commons and the Senate before it can become law.

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Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller said, "We're failing our children," and "Enough is enough. We need basic protection in place so every child in this country can be safe on platforms they use every day."

The bill’s Digital Safety Act would set new safety requirements for social media services, including AI chatbots, and it would establish a Digital Safety Commission of Canada to set standards, enforce the law, dole out penalties, and triage complaints.

The Canadian government said the evidence is clear that "online harms are intensifying," and it cited that one in four Canadian children between the ages of 12 and 17 have reported being cyberbullied.

The Safe Social Media Act would apply to social media platforms, livestreaming services, and adult content services, while AI chatbots would not be included in the 16-year-old minimum age requirement.

UPI said the law would require social media companies to block users younger than 16 from creating accounts, while allowing exemptions if companies can prevent harm including bullying and content that encourages self-harm or body dysmorphia.

Al Jazeera

The Guardian said the legislation covers seven types of harmful content, including content that induces children to harm themselves, content that incites violence and foments hatred and non-consensual intimate images.

In a technical briefing described by Al Jazeera, the bill’s introduction comes weeks after families affected by one of Canada’s worst mass shootings sued OpenAI, alleging the company knew the killer was planning the attack after it banned the shooter from its platform in June last year.

Al Jazeera also quoted the government’s view that online harms are shaped by how digital services are designed and operated, including "Features such as algorithmic recommendation systems, engagement-based feeds, autoplay, and endless scrolling".

As Canada moves toward a social media ban for under-16s, tech companies and app-store operators are arguing over who should verify ages and enforce restrictions.

“The Canadian government has introduced a new digital safety bill that would ban social media for children under 16, with exemptions for platforms that meet certain safety standards”

Al Jazeera

BNN Bloomberg quoted Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel saying, "I don’t think it’s fair for any company to say, ‘We’re just the host, it’s their problem,’" and it also reported his argument that app stores should do the heavy lifting.

The same report said Google’s Kareem Ghanem framed the debate as a pattern of shifting responsibility, saying, "advancing policy proposals that demonstrate more interest in shifting responsibility than in taking responsibility."

The Guardian said a digital safety commission will be created and that setting up the regulator could take up to 18 months, while also saying age verification will be established.

The Guardian added that in Australia, social media companies have revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children since the country banned use of the platforms by those under 16.