The Liberal government plans to table a bill this week that reportedly includes banning social media use for youth under the age of 16.
Culture Minister Marc Miller is expected to introduce the ban as part of the government’s long-awaited online harms bill and is expected to be tabled before Parliament adjourns for summer break next week, according to unnamed government sources cited in multiple media reports.
In addition to a youth social media ban, the bill is expected to put new requirements on platforms to report credible threats of violence or self-harm to authorities.
The youth social media prohibition would be similar to a ban put in place last December in Australia, barring youth under 16 from having accounts on various social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook, according to the reports.
Under the proposed legislation, platforms might be able to get exemptions if they prove they meet new safety standards created to protect minors, according to an anonymous government source cited by The Globe and Mail. It’s not clear if the expected legislation would include a ban on the use of AI chatbots by minors.
The news comes days after Prime Minister Mark Carney and Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon announced Ottawa’s new strategy on AI, which the government lauded as an important step in advancing Canada’s AI capability, while opposition parties criticized the strategy as overly vague on privacy and safety protections.
