POLICY

With chatbot regulation, Canada proposes a ban on social media for under 16s

The government of Canada announced today that it’s mulling a ban on social media for children under 16, though unlike some other countries that have already introduced such a ban, Canada has said the social media platforms can keep serving children if they can prove they’re safe.

In what’s fast becoming a global effort to protect kids from the dangers of social media, Canada believes “harms are intensifying” for young people for everything from “child sexual exploitation and cyberbullying to self-harm and mental health issues.” To counteract that, Marc Miller, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, has introduced Bill C-34, the “Safe Social Media Act.”

“We have seen the very serious consequences that online harms can have,” said Miller. “As technologies evolve, we must ensure our laws keep pace, because parents cannot face these challenges alone. The safety of children cannot be an afterthought. This legislation will introduce stronger responsibilities for online platforms to ensure their services are safe by design and include appropriate measures to keep children safe.”

Over the last year or so, a number of countries have followed in the footsteps of Australia, that became the first country to impose a social media ban for under 16s. Britain, Denmark, France, Spain, Greece, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia are also in the process of developing similar bans, legislation that despite concerns regarding social media harms has not yet been embraced in the U.S. where most of the countries that provide the technology are located.

Canada’s bill, which will need to be passed by Parliament before it is written into the law, also takes aim at artificial intelligence chatbots that themselves have come under scrutiny of late for their potential harms.

Though Canada isn’t planning to ban such chatbots for kids, the legislation asks that companies build safety mechanisms into their services concerning how the chatbot builds relationships, how it responds to questions around self-harm, and how it mitigates the risk of the chatbot sending harmful content in general.

Miller told CBC Canada that the reason chatbots won’t see age restrictions is the technology is “evolving” and can be educational as well as posing dangers. “We’re going to have to keep a close eye on it,” he said.

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