- Canada Introduces Safe Social Media Act in Bill C-34
- It needs to be approved by both the House of Commons and the Senate.
- Minors under 16 years of age would be excluded from social media platforms
There is growing awareness that social media is not particularly healthy for younger children, and a growing number of governments are taking legislative action in response, with Canada being the latest country to take action to ban access to social media platforms for those under 16.
This is done through the Safe Social Media Act (via Engadget), introduced by Canada’s Minister of Identity and Culture, Marc Miller. The law outlines “increasing risks” to youth that are “real, measurable and increasing,” including negative mental health effects, cyberbullying and sexual abuse.
The law also notes that AI drives changes in “how harmful content is created, amplified, and experienced online.” The Canadian government argues that social media platforms’ algorithms and engagement drive, along with features such as endless scrolling and auto-playing videos, have exacerbated these problems.
Introduced under Bill C-34, the law has now been officially introduced in the Canadian Parliament, although there is still a long way to go before it becomes law. It will have to be voted on by both the House of Commons and the Senate, before being approved by the Governor General, but the process is already underway.
“We are failing our children,” Miller told reporters, including CBC. “Enough is enough. We need to have basic protections so that every child in this country can be safe on the platforms they use every day.” The plan is to create a monitoring commission to ensure that the prohibition of access to minors under 16 years of age is maintained.
AI not included
The ban would apply to social media platforms, live streaming services and adult content services. Social media platforms and live streaming services (but not adult content services) will be able to apply for exemptions, if they can demonstrate that “adequate safeguards” for young people are in place.
AI chatbots will not be included in the ban, although the bill requires them to take steps to reduce the risk of harmful content being generated in response to user input. Miller said AI applications represented “an evolving playing field” and that authorities would “closely monitor” these services.
Exactly how this ban will be enforced hasn’t been specified (Miller said there would be “a back-and-forth” with social platforms over this), and the CBC cites concerns from Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair at the University of Ottawa, that any kind of age verification process would impact the privacy rights of all users, not just children.
A similar social media ban for under-16s was imposed in Australia last year, although there is some debate over its effectiveness. Other countries, including the UK, are weighing their own restrictions, although difficulties with application and verification are issues no matter the location.
It’s been just over 20 years since Facebook arrived, and social platforms are now facing a real reckoning: Meta and YouTube were declared “negligent” by a Los Angeles court in March, while this week Apple dedicated much of its WWDC 2026 presentation to improving child protection on its devices.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds.
The best laptops for all budgets
