Canada has introduced sweeping new digital safety legislation that would prohibit children under the age of 16 from using social media platforms, according to Reuters. The bill, called the Safe Social Media Act, was introduced by the Canadian government on Wednesday.
Beyond the social media ban, the legislation also establishes new safety standards for AI chatbot services, according to Engadget. This dual focus signals that Canadian lawmakers view both social platforms and AI-powered conversational tools as areas requiring formal guardrails when it comes to minors.
The bill places Canada alongside a growing number of governments grappling with how to regulate young people's access to digital services. Australia passed similar legislation last year setting a 16-year minimum age for social media, and several U.S. states have pursued comparable measures, though federal action in the United States has stalled.
Details on exactly how the age restriction would be enforced — whether through platform-side verification, parental consent mechanisms, or other means — were not specified in the initial reports. The inclusion of AI chatbot safety standards is notable, as it suggests regulators are beginning to treat AI companions and conversational agents as a distinct category of digital risk for children, separate from traditional social networking.
If passed, the law would represent one of the most significant government interventions into children's digital lives in Canadian history, and could pressure major platforms to rethink how they verify user ages across their global products.