Archive for June, 2026

The Decibel: Canada’s first steps towards a social media ban

I appeared on The Decibel on June 12, 2026. In the episode, we discussed the proposed Safe Social Media Act, its approach to online safety and children’s access to social media, and the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed legislation. The link to the episode is here.

The Exemption Illusion: Why the Government’s Plan to Fast Track Bill C-34’s Kids’ Social Media Ban Means No Standards, No Privacy Review, and No Enforcement

One of the most heavily promoted features of Bill C-34, the government’s Safe Social Media Act, is that its social media ban for those under 16 comes with a potential exemption for platforms that satisfy the new Digital Safety Commission that they provide adequate safeguards for children. But based on comments from government officials, it appears the exemption is an illusion, at least for years to come. The legislation carefully sets out how the ban is supposed to work, but officials at a technical briefing on the bill this week described a very different plan that involves moving quickly after Royal Assent with regulations to bring the ban into force without waiting for the Digital Safety Commission to be fully operational. No Commission means no age verification standards, no privacy review, no exemption, and no effective enforcement. It also creates huge risks since the initial start of the ban is when tens of millions of Canadians would be required to verify their age, yet the government is sidelining the privacy protections written into its own bill and essentially conceding that the ban is unlikely to carry any real consequences for those services that fail to comply when it first takes effect.

Liberal MP: Lawful Access “Has Nothing to Do With the Privacy of People and Their Information”

The government is set to introduce privacy reform next week with the “fundamental right to privacy” expected to serve as a foundational element of the forthcoming bill. Yet as the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security continues its clause-by-clause review of Bill C-22, Liberal MP Sima Acan last night offered a stunning perspective suggesting that the government simply does not conceive of privacy as most Canadians do. Frustrated with the dogged efforts of Conservative MP Jacob Mantle to address the privacy implications of the bill, Acan stated that the bill “has nothing to do with the privacy of people and their information.” After multiple hearings on the privacy consequences of mandatory metadata retention, backdoor access and weakened encryption, and reduced evidentiary standards for access to subscriber information, the comment is ill-informed and simply shocking. If that position reflects the broader view within the government, it is little wonder that the privacy risks of lawful access have not been taken seriously.