Canadian Bill Would Bar Under-16s From Social Media, Drawing Legal Group's Opposition
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has launched a national campaign against Bill C-34, saying the legislation could require every user to verify their age and identity
The Canadian government has introduced Bill C-34, known as the Safe Social Media Act, which would prohibit access to social media for those under 16. Marc Miller, the minister of identity and culture, introduced the bill on June 10 as part of a broader plan to regulate the internet in Canada. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a Canadian civil liberties litigation group, has launched a national campaign against the measure, arguing that it goes well beyond the protection of minors.
The bill would impose greater responsibilities on digital platforms and artificial intelligence chatbots regarding harmful content. Miller said the legislation seeks to "ensure that social media services and artificial intelligence chatbots are responsible for addressing harm before it occurs." The JCCF says the text gives the federal cabinet excessive powers to regulate the internet in the future. The organization is urging Canadians to contact their members of Parliament and has set up a tool that sends prewritten letters to lawmakers and to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
A ban of this kind would be similar to the one in Australia, where those under 16 cannot hold accounts on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat. According to the JCCF, an equivalent measure would require technology companies to put in place age verification or age estimation systems. The organization says that in practice all users would end up having to verify their age and identity to access these platforms.
The JCCF says identity verification raises privacy concerns. Canadians would have to hand over more personal information to the government or to foreign companies simply to express their opinions, take part in public debate and obtain information, the group says, arguing that the requirement would affect the freedom of expression and privacy of all citizens, not only minors.
The bill would also require digital platforms to adopt measures to inform police about credible threats of violence or self-harm. The JCCF considers that provision part of a wider set of obligations it says could affect users' privacy and freedom of expression.
Sections 48 to 58 of the bill would regulate what Canadians can say to artificial intelligence chatbots and what those chatbots can answer. The JCCF says vague obligations and financial penalties, which could reach up to 3 percent of global revenue, would push companies to monitor users' private conversations.
In the organization's initial reading of the text, AI chatbots could report private and lawful conversations to police. Section 53(e) would give future regulators broad authority to prohibit certain responses from these tools.
The bill would create a Digital Safety Commission of three to five full-time members appointed by the federal cabinet. The body would have broad powers to regulate online content without effective parliamentary oversight.
Michael Geist, a privacy expert and law professor in Canada, has said the commission could decide 50 significant questions that Bill C-34 does not spell out. Those include which social media and artificial intelligence companies would fall under the law and what would count as "significant psychological or physical harm" in online content.
Canadian members of Parliament would have limited oversight of those decisions, according to the JCCF. The organization also notes that the Liberal government has considered creating a national digital identification that could form part of any social media ban.
