Liberals look at banning social media for minors as 'important element' of online safety agenda

OTTAWA — The federal minister tasked with shepherding the Liberals’ latest efforts to legislate safety measures against online platforms says that while banning social media for minors could be part of its proposal, it cannot be it only one.

Canadian Heritage Minister Marc Miller addressed on Wednesday a resolution passed by Liberal delegates at the party’s convention last weekend calling for an age restriction of 16 to be placed on minors’ access to social media, which is similar to a law Australia has in place.

“It’s clear that a ban or a moratorium on social media by kids, who we do need to protect, can be an important element, but it can’t be the only one,” the minister told reporters.

Miller said the government was “very seriously” looking at the idea. Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking last month after a visit to Australia — the first in the world to put such a ban in place — said at the time it was an idea worth considering, adding that “I don’t have a settled view on it.” 

Past attempts by the Liberals to legislate measures with the intent of better protecting Canadians online failed under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, whose government had faced criticism for proposing overly broad measures.

The last bill the Trudeau government advanced, the Online Harms Act, known as Bill C-63, died in Parliament. It had proposed establishing a new regulator and requiring social media companies to submit safety plans outlining measures they were taking to reduce users’ exposure to seven types of harmful content online.

The government also included in that bill proposals to stiffen criminal sentences for hate-related crimes, provisions that civil liberties advocates roundly criticized as being draconian. Supporters of the government’s plan for regulating social media companies at the time called on the Liberals to split the bill, which it finally said it would have been willing to do.

Miller on Wednesday pointed to the fact the Liberals’ last attempts to advance online safety measures were done when it had minorities in Parliament. After three byelection wins on Monday and five floor-crossings, Carney now enjoys a majority.

“There are some opportunities here, but we do have to gain support from from other parties and I would look to other parties to gain just that support.”

The Opposition Conservatives, who have been the most critical of the government’s agenda when it comes to online regulation, would need to study the issue of banning social media for children the party’s leader, Pierre Poilievre, told reporters last month.

“I think that when it comes to protecting young people from harms and from the risks that come with these social media platforms, with AI, I think that really everything should be on the table for consideration when it comes to children,” Ontario MP Michael Barrett said on Wednesday.

He also said parents play an important role.

“It really is a larger question, but should age restrictions be considered — absolutely.”

NDP MP Don Davies, who serves as the party’s leader in Parliament, said the Liberals now hold the majority of votes in Parliament and cannot point the finger at other parties for holding up their agenda.

He said the Liberals in the past have included online harms with other measures that caused the legislation to fail, saying the lesson he sees is for the Carney government is to “legislate in a very streamlined way.”

Miller told reporters he did not have a timeline for when the government may bring forward a new bill.

He said the question of how to address the issue of AI chatbots was being looked at by an expert group he reconvened, which had advised the government on its previous online harms bill.

The minister said dealing with these technologies “is not as easy” as looking at measures for social media platforms.

Concerns around how companies operate AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, emerged in the wake of a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge B.C., after OpenAI confirmed that the shooter had previously exchanged messages with its chatbot that warranted a suspension of their account.

Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon met with company representatives to raise concerns about its safety protocols, saying the company has pledged improvements. He also met with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

National Post

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