The Canadian government introduced a new digital safety bill on Wednesday that would ban social media for children under 16, with exemptions for platforms that meet certain safety standards. This move comes months after Australia enacted the world's first social media ban for young people.
The bill also aims to make AI chatbots safer by establishing a digital regulator to set safety standards, a government official said. Its introduction in Parliament follows weeks after families affected by one of the country's worst mass shootings sued OpenAI, alleging that the company knew the alleged killer was planning the attack on ChatGPT but did not warn police.
Global Context
In December, Australia became the world's first country to ban social media for children under 16. A month after its law was introduced, social media companies collectively deactivated the accounts of nearly 5 million teenagers.
France, Denmark, and Poland are also considering tightening rules around social media use for children, while Greece in April announced it would ban access to those under the age of 15 from January 2027.
Legislative Timeline
Government officials in a technical briefing 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 has a slim majority in Parliament, which is due to break for summer recess soon.
