Poll finds 90% in favour of social media age ban, while advocates urge action for online harms

OTTAWA — New polling released by a coalition that includes children’s health-care groups suggests an overwhelming majority of Canadians say they would support instituting a minimum age to use social media as well as the establishment of regulator to provide oversight of tech platforms.

It comes as advocates urge Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to act, while it weighs options on how to tackle the issue of online safety.

“As a parent, as an educator, as a human in Canada, I’m very frustrated,” said Carol Todd, founder of a non-profit named after her daughter Amanda Todd, whose 2012 death put an international spotlight on the issue of online sextortion.

The Leger poll, commissioned by the Safer Online Spaces Coalition, which includes the Amanda Todd Legacy Society, surveyed 1,502 Canadians online from Jan. 26 to Jan. 29.

It asked a series of question about social media and regulation, including levels of support for the creation of an online regulator, even in the context of dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump who has shown hostility towards existing regimes in Europe.

When it comes to the question of banning social media for certain ages, the survey showed some 90 per cent of respondents believed there should be some minimum age required for accessing certain platforms, with 27 per cent saying it should be 14 to 15 years of age and another 27 per cent believing it ought to be 16 to 17.

Todd said an age ban raises questions about how it could be monitored and enforced.

Around 53 per cent of respondents said they would support stronger regulation of social media companies despite any pressure to do otherwise from Trump, with more women and older Canadians tending to agree, while another 27 per cent answered that it “depends on the situation.”

The survey suggests an overwhelming concern by Canadian adults about children becoming addicted to social media (73 per cent) and strong worry about false information such as fraudulent ads targeting minors (76 per cent) as well as online sexual exploitation and abuse (74 per cent).

It also found that 90 per cent of respondents think tech companies and social media giants ought to be accountable for the content they make available to children, with 79 per cent of respondents saying they would support seeing a regulator established. Another 77 per cent of those who answered voiced support for a tougher enforcement approach to regulation, including when it comes to AI tools.

Online polls cannot be assigned a margin of error, but the pollster said for comparative purposes, a probability sample of this size would be assigned one of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20

The results reinforce the message advocates have been taking to the Carney government, which has largely sought to address the issue of online harms through Criminal Code reforms, such as by introducing a bill that would criminalize sexualized “deepfakes,” referring to images created through AI or other means, that depict an individual naked or in a sex act.

Advocates have been urging the government to go further, and revive efforts made under former prime minister Justin Trudeau to introduce regulation that would compel companies to reduce exposure to harmful content. Its last attempt included plans to create a regulator, as well as an ombudsperson Canadians could contact for help.

“It is actually breathtaking as a pediatrician to see the online environment remain an unregulated space,” said Dr. Charlotte Moore Hepburn, director of the child health policy wing at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the country’s largest.

“The introduction of the digital space to young people with developing minds is the largest, fully unregulated clinical trial affecting human development in the history of civilization.”

She points to the links clinicians see between social media use and the impacts on children’s mental health, from anxiety and depression to self-harm and disordered eating.

“Government has experience wrapping its arms around previously unregulated industries,” she said. “Government has the capacity to do this if the political will is there.”

The federal government has signalled its intention to tackle online safety and is still evaluating options, looking at what other jurisdictions have done, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, which have their own safety regulator.

Australia also became the first country to institute a ban on certain social media platforms, including Snapchat, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, for those younger than 16 — another option Canadian is exploring. The United Kingdom and Germany are also evaluating similar bans, with France recently passing a bill that would do so for those under 15. 

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking Wednesday in New Delhi as part of an AI conference, blasted the Trump administration’s stated rationale against online regulation as having to do with free speech as “pure bullshit,” taking aim at the lack of transparency around algorithms that generate what content users see.

“We all want our children to be safe as they navigate the digital world, and platforms have an important role to play in meeting that challenge,” wrote Hermine Landry, a spokeswoman for Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller.

“Our government intends to act swiftly to better protect Canadians, especially children, from online harm. No decisions have been made and we will have more details to share in due course.”

Todd says the lack of details and timelines is frustrating, especially for family members whose children have been harmed online.

“Is it going to be a year? Is it going to be two months? What’s it going to look like? Like, they’re not even feeding us little tidbits, right, so it gets really frustrating,” she said. “Are we going to be left in the dust again?”

Other advocates agreed that the government can’t afford to drag its heels.

“We are heartened by the increasing interest the federal government has showed,” said Moore Hepburn.

“However, time is of the essence and urgent action is required.”

National Post, w ith a file from Bloomberg News

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