Canada to Introduce Bill Banning Social Media for Under-16s and Creating New Digital Regulator

Prime Minister Mark Carney's government is expected to table the Digital Safety Act and the Digital Safety Commission of Canada Act as soon as Wednesday. The legislation would ban social media accounts for children under 16 and create a new digital regulator to set safety standards. Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller, who leads the bill, said the measure is urgent.

"Kids are dying," he told reporters on his way into a cabinet meeting Tuesday. " The regulator would establish rules for platforms, including harms linked to artificial-intelligence chatbots. Companies that meet the regulator's criteria could regain permission to host young Canadian users.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser declined to confirm details of the bill, citing confidentiality rules that apply before legislation reaches the House of Commons. He said the government believes safety and rights can be balanced. "You don't have to give up your freedoms in order to ensure people can live safe in a society," Fraser said.

He noted that parents of bullied children often see little freedom when harassment continues at home after school hours. The bill follows months of consultations and revives an earlier online harms package that died when former prime minister Justin Trudeau prorogued Parliament in early 2025.

That version included Criminal Code and Canadian Human Rights Act amendments targeting content used to bully children, encourage self-harm, spread hate speech, incite violence or terrorism, sexualize children or victims of sexual violence, and distribute intimate images without consent.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre opposed the previous bill, arguing it chilled free speech and that police, not a new bureaucracy, should handle bullying and online harms. Australia set a minimum age for accounts on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook late last year, becoming the first country to impose such a rule.

Other nations are considering similar limits ahead of the G7 meeting in France, where the issue is expected to be discussed.