Canada introduced the Safe Social Media Act this week on the 10th of June 2026. It is the most far-reaching and stringent child online safety legislation seen so far.
The legislation aims to ban children under 16 years of age from creating social media accounts unless platforms can first demonstrate their products meet certain requirements:
🔹 Deepfakes have to be removed and AI-generated content clearly labeled as a baseline compliance requirement
🔹 Algorithmic feeds, autoplay, and endless scroll are specifically named in the bill as design features that cause harm to young users - these would have to be reviewed by platforms
🔹 Users should be given real tools to report harm and block people if necessary
🔹Notably, AI chatbots are excluded from the bill's scope, raising questions about the efficacy of the new legislation
The proposed bill is clearly shifting responsibility from children and parents to the platforms themselves. A growing wave of similar legislation can be seen in Australia, Indonesia, and Malaysia - there is a global shift in how governments are approaching the question of children's digital wellbeing.
Culture Minister Marc Miller stated: "We are failing our children." To counteract the addictive powers of social media this new legislation places the full responsibility to platforms, and not parents or children themselves. Self-regulation for Big Tech is not currently working, and the Canadian government is seeking to address this issue in a robust manner.
💭 Food for thought: should AI chatbots face the same restrictions as social media when it comes to children?
