Overview
- The federal government introduced the Digital Safety Act (Bill C‑34) in the House of Commons Wednesday to prohibit social‑media accounts for people under 16 unless platforms obtain an exemption.
- Platforms can apply for exemptions if they demonstrate strong child‑safety safeguards, but services that host adult content will be ineligible for those exemptions.
- The bill creates a Digital Safety Commission of Canada to enforce rules, and officials say parliamentary approval could take about a year with roughly 18 months to set up the regulator.
- AI chatbot providers would face new duties such as crisis‑intervention protocols and transparency requirements, but the bill does not impose the same under‑16 account ban on chatbots.
- Critics and experts warn major hurdles remain including how to verify age without harming privacy, how exemptions will be defined and audited, and how youth might evade limits while provinces and other countries watch for lessons from Australia.