Canada’s new Digital Safety Act expected to include under-16 social media ban

The federal government will introduce its online harms bill, the Digital Safety Act, as soon as Wednesday.

Culture Minister Marc Miller, who is taking the lead on the legislation, says the bill is needed because “kids are dying.”

Federal ministers declined to give details about the bill today, saying they could not do so before the bill is introduced due to parliamentary rules.

The bill is expected to include a ban on social media for kids under 16, although platforms that meet safety standards could obtain exemptions, according to reports in The Globe and Mail and National Post.

The legislation comes as a number of other countries plan to introduce similar bans.

Ottawa said in its AI strategy, released last week, that it will also introduce legislation to address the safety of AI chatbots.

By Anja Karadeglija