The Canadian government will introduce legislation this week barring children below 16 from accessing social media.
The proposed measure will be part of a larger online harms bill which will be brought before Canada’s Parliament on Wednesday, multiple Canadian outlets reported on Monday.
The bill is also expected to address the harms caused in the digital space by AI chatbots especially in relation to children. A regulator is also expected to the appointed to set standards for social media, especially when it comes to usage by children.
However, the curbs could be relaxed for social media companies that prove they have taken remedial action to mitigate harm that children may be exposed to on their platforms.
Last month, while speaking to a Parliamentary committee, Minister of Canadian Heritage Marc Miller said, “I think we have to act as the federal government. We don’t have a choice.”
Australia introduced similar measures earlier this year.
The issue of AI chatbots was tacked on to the apparent harms caused by social media. In February this year, a 18-year-old trans shooter in the town of Tumbler Ridge in British Columbia killed eight people. It later emerged in the report from the Wall Street Journal that the shooter was barred from company OpenAI’s platform ChatGPT but law enforcement was not notified about their concerning interactions and they even managed to create another account.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman apologised for that error in judgement earlier this year. In a letter to the township of Tumbler Ridge, he said, “While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to recognize the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered.”
“I think as a father, I feel some responsibility, but also as a minister, to assure myself we are doing the right thing for our young people,” Miller said last month, according to the outlet Globe and Mail.