Canada Introduces Bill C-34 to Restrict Social Media for Users Under 16

On Wednesday, Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller introduced Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act. The two-part bill sets new duties and safety requirements for social media services and AI chatbots while establishing a Digital Safety Commission to set standards and handle complaints.

If passed, platforms must restrict accounts for users under 16 through age-verification or age-estimation measures.

Services can receive exemptions if they implement adequate safeguards, though those safeguards remain undefined. Bill C-34 also sets safety requirements for AI chatbot services but does not impose age restrictions on their use. The bill targets seven categories of harmful content: material that sexually victimizes a child or re-victimizes a survivor; content that induces a child to harm themselves; content used to bully a child; content that foments hatred; content that incites violence; terrorism or violent extremism content; and intimate content communicated without consent.

Meta stated it is encouraged that the government appears to recognize that online services providing teens with sufficient safeguards provide real value to young people. The company has previously described social media bans as counterproductive and has pointed to its teen accounts and device-level age verification as alternatives.

Tech analyst Carmi Levy said the Canadian bill is very different from legislation in other countries and leaves more room for technology companies to change their technology.

He noted that the bill outlines safety requirements and includes a potential exemption, which he said may encourage platforms to update their systems rather than simply remove younger users. Sara Grimes, a children's digital rights researcher at McGill University, said the safety-by-design focus, establishment of a safety commissioner, and possibility for service providers to meet criteria for appropriateness for kids was massive.