Canada tables bill to ban social media for under-16s, with a safety carve-out for platforms

The legislation

Canada's new digital safety bill, introduced by Culture Minister Marc Miller, would prohibit children under 16 from holding social media accounts. Unlike Australia's blanket ban enacted in December, the Canadian proposal includes a derogation mechanism: platforms can sidestep the prohibition if they demonstrate they have implemented sufficient child-protection measures. The bill also establishes a new Digital Safety Commission to enforce the rules and set safety requirements for AI chatbots.

“We are failing our children. Enough is enough.”

The legislation defines seven categories of harmful content, including material that sexually victimises a child, induces self-harm, bullies a child, incites violence, foments hatred, involves terrorism or violent extremism, and non-consensual intimate images. Companies that fail to comply face penalties of 3% of global revenue or 10 million Canadian dollars (about €6.2 million), whichever is higher.

Political and international context

Canada joins a growing list of countries moving to restrict youth access to social media. Australia became the first nation to enact an under-16 ban in December 2025, leading platforms to deactivate roughly five million teenage accounts within a month. Indonesia and Brazil have also pursued restrictions, while France, Denmark, Poland, and Greece are considering similar measures. Greece announced in April it would ban access for under-15s from January 2027. In Germany, the CDU plans to debate a minimum age of 16 at its party conference, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressing openness to the idea.

“As technologies evolve, we must ensure our laws keep pace, because parents cannot face these challenges alone.”

Health and safety rationale

Health Minister Marjorie Michel framed social media and AI chatbots as a source of mental health challenges for young people, citing anxiety, isolation, and depression. Miller stated that passing an online harms law was a priority because "kids are dying." The bill's introduction comes weeks after families affected by one of Canada's worst mass shootings sued OpenAI, alleging the company knew the suspected perpetrator was planning the attack on ChatGPT but did not alert police.

“Social media and AI chatbots do not support healthy childhood development and have become a source of anxiety, isolation, depression and many other mental health problems for many young people.”

Implementation timeline

Government officials at a technical briefing said the bill could take a year to pass through Parliament and an additional 18 months to set up the digital regulator once it becomes law. Prime Minister Mark Carney holds a slim majority in the House of Commons, which is due to break for summer recess soon. The proposal arrives ahead of the G7 summit in France next week, where leaders are expected to discuss AI and child online protection.

Criticism and open questions

Free speech groups have warned the bill could expand censorship. Practical questions remain unresolved, including how platforms would reliably verify user age without creating new data-privacy problems. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk cautioned on 29 May that simply banning children's access was insufficient and urged governments and companies to build safer platforms instead.