Canada tables bill to ban social media for under-16s, months after Australia's world-first law
The Safe Social Media Act would block minors from platforms like Meta and X unless firms meet safety standards set by a new digital regulator, with AI chatbots also facing new rules.
The legislation
The Canadian government introduced the Safe Social Media Act in Parliament on Wednesday, proposing a ban on social media for children under 16. Platforms operated by Meta, X and others would be required to block underage users unless they meet safety standards set by a newly created Digital Safety Commission of Canada. The bill also imposes new obligations on AI chatbot services, requiring them to mitigate the risk of communicating harmful content and to introduce emergency measures for crisis situations.
Children's safety cannot be an afterthought. We all know that harmful online content can have very serious consequences.
The legislation mandates that social media services design products to be safer for children, remove deepfakes and content that sexually victimises a child, and provide clear methods for reporting harmful material and tools for blocking users. Platforms would also need to submit publicly disclosed digital safety plans.
The Tumbler Ridge context
The bill's introduction comes weeks after families affected by one of Canada's worst mass shootings sued OpenAI, alleging the company knew the alleged killer was planning the attack on ChatGPT but did not warn police. Marc Miller, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, acknowledged the case during the press conference, noting that chatbots are less well-studied than social media but still require regulation.
Chatbots are not as well-studied as the harm caused by social media platforms. They don't have the same social role.
Global wave of restrictions
Canada joins a growing list of countries restricting youth access to social media. Australia became the first to enact a ban for under-16s in December, and within a month platforms had deactivated nearly 5 million teenage accounts. Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil have also moved to limit access. France, Denmark and Poland are considering tighter rules, while Greece announced in April it would ban access for under-15s from January 2027.
Social media and AI chatbots do not promote healthy development in children and have become a source of anxiety, isolation, depression and many other mental health problems for many young people.
Implementation timeline
Government officials said it could take a year for the bill to pass and 18 months to set up the digital regulator once it does. Prime Minister Mark Carney holds a slim majority in Parliament, which is due to break for summer recess soon. The Digital Safety Commission of Canada, created by a separate act, will enforce regulations and can grant exemptions to platforms that maintain sufficient safeguards for children.
- Australia enacts world's first social media ban for under-16s
- Nearly 5 million Australian teen accounts deactivated within a month of the law
- Greece announces ban on social media access for under-15s from January 2027
- Canada introduces Safe Social Media Act banning under-16s from social media
- Greece's under-15 social media ban scheduled to take effect
What the bill targets
The government's proposal for Bill C-34 states that online harms are shaped by how digital services are designed and operated, citing algorithmic recommendation systems, engagement-based feeds, autoplay and endless scrolling as features that amplify harmful content. The bill requires services to identify risks of harm, adopt measures to address them, implement safety-focused and age-appropriate design features, and make user guidelines available.
