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 protect children from harmful online content, including limiting young people's access to social media and AI chatbots.
- Platforms and chatbot services would have to assess how their design could spread seven categories of harmful content and publicly report what they find. They would also share data with independent researchers.
- Mandatory takedowns would be limited to non-consensual intimate images and child sexual abuse material. This limits the risk of removing lawful speech that is close to these categories.
Critics say
- The bill erodes Canadians' rights and free expression, and it limits democratic debate about online regulation.
- Only risk assessments and transparency are required for most harmful content, with no mandatory takedown. Much harmful material would stay online, though it might be amplified less.
- Penalties are designed to encourage compliance rather than to punish. Critics say this is too weak for profitable tech companies, and they want strict liability and personal liability for company directors.
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