Safe Social Media Act
Creates new rules requiring social media platforms and chatbot services to protect users — especially children — from harmful online content, and establishes a new federal watchdog called the Digital Safety Commission of Canada to enforce those rules.
Sponsor · Hon. Marc Miller
Social media companies would have to limit children's access to pornographic content, give users tools to block and report harmful posts, and label AI-generated content — with a new federal commission able to order platforms to remove images that sexually exploit children or were shared without consent.
The debate · 6 points
Supporters say
- The bill would require social media services to keep children under 16 from having accounts, shielding young people from harmful online content.
- Supporters point to research linking algorithmic feeds, autoplay and endless scrolling to rising anxiety and depression among young people.
- The bill would require platforms to assess how their designs may encourage harmful content and to publish what they find. It would also require them to share user and activity data with independent researchers, and it would cover AI chatbots as well as social media.
Critics say
- Critics argue the bill would erode Canadians' rights and limit democratic participation, and that it was rushed through with limited debate.
- Most harmful content would stay online. The bill requires risk assessments and transparency, but mandatory takedowns apply only to non-consensual intimate images and child sexual abuse material.
- Penalties are too weak. The bill says penalties aim to promote compliance rather than punish, and critics want strict liability and personal liability for company directors.
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