Ottawa’s upcoming privacy bill could include age restrictions for AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, as the federal government looks at ways to protect children online, says Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon (former CBC journalist).
“There are lots of discussions around folks who are asking us, hey, should there be a certain age-appropriate access to certain parts of chatbots,” Solomon told The Canadian Press. “We’re going to look at that.”
The idea comes as governments worldwide grapple with the growing influence—and potential dangers—of conversational AI tools. Some parents in the United States have launched lawsuits against chatbot companies after their teenage children died by suicide, claiming the AI systems encouraged self-harm or fuelled delusional thinking.
Solomon said he has raised one of these cases directly with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, but cautioned against writing sweeping laws in response to individual tragedies. “It’s very hard to jump to conclusions about how to regulate based on a horrific, tragic case,” he said.
He spoke at the Govern or Be Governed conference in Montreal, where Megan Garcia, a Florida mother suing the chatbot platform Character.AI, urged policymakers to take stronger action. “My hope is that by passing legislation and enforcing it, making these companies liable for fines in their own countries or other things like that, that you will put the pressure on tech companies,” Garcia said.
In August 2025, the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine sued OpenAI in California court, claiming ChatGPT interactions contributed to his suicide that April. To address this and teen mental health risks, OpenAI added easy parental controls like account linking, bedtime blocks, and filters for sensitive topics; alerts that spot self-harm chats and notify parents with crisis help links; and smarter GPT-5 rules that stop suicide talks, ban harmful images for kids, and gently redirect users—supported by a new teen safety expert group.
While Solomon says he still opposes a “one-size-fits-all” approach to AI regulation, he’s open to new, focused measures—including the right to delete deepfakes and limits on children’s access to chatbots. He added that more than 6,500 Canadians have already provided feedback on the government’s consultation.
Still, one big question hangs over it all: how would the government even check someone’s age on a chatbot like ChatGPT without creating a whole new privacy headache?
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The government only cares about your children as far as they can help their agenda – in this case, pushing digital ID