Canada Plans to Bans Social Media for Kids

The Canadian government just introduced new legislation that would prohibit children under 16 from being on social media platforms.

Bill C-34, called the Safe Social Media Act, was unveiled Wednesday in the House of Commons by the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller. The bill would also create a new independent regulator, the Digital Safety Commission of Canada.

This move follows Australia’s 2024 enactment of the world’s first social media ban for young people.

The legislation would make social media services and AI chatbots legally accountable for building platforms that are “safe by design” and prioritize children’s safety.

The Act is based on past and ongoing federal policy work plus extensive consultations on online safety. Right now, platforms have little accountability or consistency in keeping users safe. The government talked with victims, survivors, civil society groups, Indigenous partners, experts, industry, and everyday Canadians.

“Social media platforms and AI chatbots are designed to capture attention. They do not support healthy childhood development and have become a source of anxiety, isolation, depression and a range of other mental health challenges for many young Canadians.

The healthy development of our children begins with their physical and mental well-being, which is grounded in strong and healthy social connections. This legislation will provide a safer environment for young Canadians and empower them to connect in-person, build friendships, focus in school, and learn real-world skills so they can thrive.”

—The Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health

Key details of Social Media Ban

The newly proposed Bill C-34 identifies seven types of “harmful content”:

Content that sexually victimizes a child or revictimizes a survivor
Content that induces a child to harm themselves
Content used to bully a child
Content that incites violence
Content that foments hatred
Terrorism or violent extremism content
Intimate content communicated without consent (including sexualized deepfakes)

Regulations:

Age restriction: Kids under 16 can’t have social media accounts unless a platform can prove they have strong child safety protections in place and qualify for an exemption.
Exemption pathway: Platforms can apply if they prove they have sufficient child safety safeguards; adult content services cannot get exemptions
AI chatbot rules: Chatbots must mitigate harmful content and have crisis protocols for self-harm, suicide, or violence threats
Content removal: Platforms must remove child sexual victimization content and non-consensual intimate images within 24 hours of reporting
Synthetic content: Companies must label AI-generated or synthetically created content
Fines: Up to 3% of global revenue or C$10 million, whichever is higher

Under the new law, companies must:

Identify risks of harm on their platforms
Take steps to fix those risks
Build safety features into their design
Label AI-generated content
Make user guidelines easy to find
Give users tools to block and flag content
Submit public digital safety plans
Follow oversight from an independent regulator

Next Steps

The government didn’t provide a concrete timeline for when these new rules will start, but stated that it could take about a year for the bill to pass Parliament.

After that, the cabinet will decide which platforms fall under the legislation—a process that could take six to eight months. The Digital Safety Commission of Canada will also take about 18 months to be fully set up and operational after the bill passes.

This will most likely create a gap where social media platforms could be subject to the age ban and other rules before a full enforcement system is in place.