Canada has introduced legislation that would ban children under 16 from social media platforms and establish a new independent regulator to oversee online safety, an official statement said Wednesday.
The bill, known as the Safe Social Media Act, "aims to change that by ensuring that social media services and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots are responsible for addressing harm before it occurs," said a statement by the Department of Canadian Heritage.
"As technologies evolve, we must ensure our laws keep pace, because parents cannot face these challenges alone," said Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller, who introduced the bill, adding: "The safety of children cannot be an afterthought."
The proposed legislation establishes three core duties for regulated services. All platforms would be subject to a "Duty to Protect Children."
Social media services would additionally face a "Duty to Act Responsibly," requiring them to assess and mitigate exposure to harmful content, label AI-generated material, and provide tools for users to flag and block harmful interactions, as well as a "Duty to Make Certain Content Inaccessible," mandating the rapid removal of child sexual abuse material and non-consensual intimate imagery, including deep fakes.
AI chatbot services would face their own version of the Duty to Act Responsibly, requiring them to mitigate the risk of communicating harmful content, disclose reporting thresholds in crises, and prevent harmful chatbot behavior.
The legislation would also establish a digital safety commission to enforce compliance and support victims of online harms.
Social media services could seek an exemption from the under-16 age restriction if they demonstrate sufficient child safety safeguards.
-Health minister points to 'anxiety, isolation, depression' due to social media
Health Minister Marjorie Michel said in the statement that social media platforms and AI chatbots "have become a source of anxiety, isolation, depression, and a range of other mental health challenges for many young Canadians."
The legislation comes as several countries move to restrict social media access to minors, and ahead of a G7 summit in France, where the issue is expected to be raised.
A growing number of countries worldwide are moving to limit minors' access to social media amid rising concern about the effect of online platforms on young people's mental health and well-being.
Australia introduced what is widely seen as the world's first nationwide ban on social media for under-16s last year, which included platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.
With Canada leaning toward its European allies, the move appears to also be aiming to craft its own approach.
