On June 10, 2026, a first reading of Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, was given by the federal government of Canada, which included both the Digital Safety Act and the Digital Safety Commission of Canada Act. The government has implemented these two Acts together to maintain appropriate and safe use of digital platforms.
“Bill C-34 is an essential step forward in ensuring the safety and well-being of Canadians on digital services.”
The Digital Safety Act was originally implemented to keep young users, below the age of 16, safe on online platforms, which include social media and artificial intelligence (AI).
“The Act requires these services to identify risks of harm on their platforms, adopt measures to address certain risks, implement safety-focused and age-appropriate design features, make user guidelines available, provide tools such as blocking and flagging, and submit publicly disclosed digital safety plans.”
This Act is meant to target seven types of harmful content, including material that is used to bully a child, incite violence, and content that induces a child to harm themself.
The role of the Digital Safety Commissions of Canada Act is to provide a framework and build a culture of online safety.
According to Global News, the government emphasized that social media and artificial intelligence platforms have plans that will help maintain children’s safety.
“Those [designs] could include content warning labels, safe search settings for children, and measures to reduce addictive behaviours like endless scrolling.”
Canada has followed the same path of other nations such as Australia, France, and Malaysia in limiting social media access for children. Global News has also outlined Canada’s unique approach which, unlike Australia, is to restrict certain services rather than implementing a full ban.
“In practice, the strategy takes a less hardline approach than Australia, the first country to ban social media for youth under 16 and whose law contains no possibility for exemptions.”
Canada has considered exemptions should online service providers include “adequate safeguards” to protect children in digital spaces, according to CBC.
These exceptions have not yet been clearly defined by parliament.
“The ‘adequate safeguards’ themselves will need to be set by the Privy Council, which includes cabinet members and other officials. The commission would then use those regulations to determine whether a company qualifies for an exemption.”
According to Canada’s Culture Minister, Marc Miller, these exemptions will come into effect after 18 months from the date of the legislation’s passing into law.
There are mixed reactions from the public about the new Bill.
CBC interviewed several Canadian teens and parents, about their opinion on this new Bill. Some are confident that the Safe Social Media Act will be helpful while others remain skeptical. Those primarily affected are children under the age of 16 and they are not sure that this law will fully limit young users as there are ways to work around the restrictions.
Canadian parents, such as Farah Nasser, have commented on how difficult it can be to introduce this Act.
“Things are changing so fast: it’s like we’re on this highway … going 100 and now we’re saying ‘OK, let’s retroactively put stop signs and street lights in.’ It’s a very difficult balance, but it’s so necessary.”
While teens, such as Theo De Decker, have pointed out valid concerns with these restrictions.
“Enforcing this ban, it’s probably going to come at the cost of some privacy. … How do they know if you’re under 16, right? They might do some things that could violate privacy and some ethical concerns.”
In contrast, a spokesperson from the technology company Meta deemed social media bans to be “counterproductive,” since some platforms, including Facebook, have already implemented safeguards such as Teen Accounts.
Other social media platforms, like TikTok, have also made adjustments for young users on the app.
“TikTok limits who can follow users between the ages of 13 and 17 as well as who views their videos and reads their bios. The app’s teen accounts can’t host live content, send or receive virtual gifts, or buy or sell products on TikTok Shop, and have a default screen time limit of 60 minutes while disabling push notifications at night.”
Technology analyst, Carmi Levy, suggested that adjustments should be anticipated regarding Bill C-34.
“We have not hit a finish line here. We’re just getting started.”
While efforts are being made to cultivate a culture of online safety, there is yet to be one simple solution to the concerns surrounding social media restrictions and the active participation of children on these platforms. As of writing this, Bill C-34 has not yet been passed and is still under review in parliament.
