Vancouver-based non-profit and digital rights group, OpenMedia, is welcoming parts of the federal government’s newly tabled Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, but is calling for major amendments before it becomes law.
OpenMedia Executive Director Matt Hatfield said the bill brings back some of the better elements of the previous Parliament’s unpassed Bill C-63, but warns it goes too far in other areas. “Our government reintroduced some of the best parts of Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act, in new legislation,” Hatfield said on Wednesday. “Unfortunately, that step forward is marred by new provisions that threaten to require a face scan or ID requirement for dozens of services Canadians use every day, from gaming, to cloud storage, to your local community message boards.”
Despite being branded as a social media bill, OpenMedia points out that Bill C-34 potentially extends well beyond social media to regulate a much broader range of services including cloud storage, gaming platforms, and message boards. Hatfield was blunt about the pattern he sees from Ottawa. “Time and again, our government shoots this common sense approach in the foot by packaging it with intrusive proposals that go much too far into every Canadians’ life,” he said.
OpenMedia also flagged concerns about the bill’s social media ban for kids under 16, which mirrors a similar law in Australia. The group pointed to early data from Australia’s e-safety commissioner suggesting 70% of young people are still accessing social media despite the ban, with no reduction in cyberbullying or image abuse complaints.
It’s not just OpenMedia that’s being critical of Bill C-34. In his critical analysis of the legislation, digital policy expert Michael Geist argued on Thursday that the federal government has essentially enacted a promise while deferring the actual substance of the law by punting at least 50 key decisions to a future cabinet and a non-existent Digital Safety Commission. He says that this “trust us” framework leaves fundamental questions completely unanswered, such as which platforms are actually covered, how the under-16 social media ban will be applied, and what constitutes adequate age verification.
Because the legislation relies on a staggering sequence of future regulatory processes, cabinet decrees, and mandatory consultations with the Privacy Commissioner and the RCMP, Geist warns that the implementation will take years to unfold, ultimately leaving the rules governing the online lives of Canadians to be written by an unelected commission that currently lacks members, a chair, staff, or a funding model.
OpenMedia says it’s launching a campaign to push for amendments and noted the government has indicated it’s open to feedback on the bill before it moves forward.
What do you think? Should there be a social media ban for kids under 16?
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