Canada Plans to Ban Social Media Accounts for Under-16s, With Some Exceptions

Canada is following Australia and planning to bar children under the age of 16 from opening social media accounts. However, the proposed law, called the Safe Social Media Act, will be less strict than Australia’s and will allow major technology companies to bypass the ban if they can show they are taking steps to minimize harm to minors, according to a BBC report.

The bill, introduced in Parliament by Culture Minister Marc Miller, includes mechanisms to oversee AI-based chatbots and reduce the advertising of “harmful content” online. A new regulatory body is also planned to monitor the companies.

The penalty for violating the law would be a fine of the higher of $7 million or 3% of the company’s global revenue.

The proposal was drafted amid calls from parents and organizations demanding stronger online safety for children, and joins a number of other countries, including Britain, France and New Zealand, that have already moved on the issue. “We intend to take all reasonable steps to make sure that the children in this country are safe,” Miller told reporters.

However, the previous government failed twice to pass similar legislation. The issue returned to the agenda after a mass shooting at a school in British Columbia in February, when it emerged that the 18-year-old shooter had used ChatGPT to search for information about gun violence in the months before the attack. Eight people, including six young children, were killed.

Still, the bill has already drawn criticism that it infringes on freedom of speech. The issue of regulating AI and protecting children from harmful content online is expected to come up next week during the G7 summit in France.