Canada has introduced Bill C-34, known as the Safe Social Media Act, marking its third legislative attempt to address online safety, particularly for children. Unlike previous broader efforts aimed at tackling harmful speech in general, this bill narrows its focus to protecting young users from risks associated with social media and AI chatbots.

While countries like Australia and the United Kingdom have implemented firm age restrictions—banning social media accounts for users under 16—Canada’s approach is more conditional. Bill C-34 allows for bans if deemed necessary but primarily relies on encouraging social media platforms to reform their services to better protect minors. This strategy depends heavily on cooperation from the platforms themselves.

A key component of the bill involves establishing an age-verification system to enable enforcement of potential account restrictions or to support safer, age-appropriate platform designs. Currently, social media platforms often verify age through self-declaration, a method no longer considered adequate in protecting children.

Implementing effective age verification is technically feasible, and Canada can look to international models for guidance. The UK’s regulatory framework recognizes seven age-assurance methods as highly effective, including facial age estimation, photo ID matching, digital identity services, financial checks through credit cards and open banking, mobile network operator verification, and email-based estimations.

Under these systems, governments do not participate directly in verifying individual ages but instead establish regulations to ensure that private companies handle user data responsibly. Such protections are crucial, especially given concerns surrounding privacy and data security. Canada’s existing privacy laws have been criticized as insufficient, though Bill C-36, which recently passed, aims to strengthen the country’s data protection framework.

Each verification method presents trade-offs. Financial-based methods such as credit card checks are limited by minimum age requirements for contracts and thus may not be effective for users under 16. Facial age estimation, while inclusive of younger users, depends on independent accuracy verification and robust privacy safeguards to mitigate risks related to biometric data use. Companies like Yoti have demonstrated the feasibility of privacy-conscious age verification technologies on platforms such as Instagram and OnlyFans.

Critics worry that age verification could drive children toward unregulated or anonymized areas of the internet, possibly using virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass restrictions. However, early data from the UK suggests that VPN usage among minors does not increase significantly in response to age verification measures on adult content sites.

The success of Bill C-34 ultimately hinges on the establishment and effectiveness of Canada’s proposed Digital Safety and Data Protection Commission, which has yet to be formed and faces a demanding workload. Past experience from Australia indicates platforms may resist outright bans, prolonging compliance efforts. By leaving options open for platform cooperation and reform, Canada seeks to avoid such standoffs and foster a safer online environment for young users.