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.
Articles by: Michael Geist
Unpacking Bill C-34: My Appearance on the Globe and Mail’s The Decibel Podcast
There has been no shortage of posts on this site on Bill C-34. For those looking for a podcast version of some of the analysis, this week I sat down with the Globe and Mail’s Decibel podcast for a conversation with Sherrill Sutherland on the bill, the social media ban, and the risks of a U.S. retaliatory response. The podcast episode is embedded below.
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.
BTC Sessions: New Law Creates ‘Giant Surveillance Map’ of Every Citizen, Dr. Michael Geist
I appeared on the BTC Sessions podcast on June 11, 2026. In the episode, we discussed Bill C-22, why mandatory metadata retention is far more invasive than the government admits, and how the bill contradicts Canada’s own stated commitment to privacy rights. The link to the episode is here.
CTV News: Will Canada’s youth social media ban work?
I appeared on CTV News on June 11, 2026, where I discussed Canada’s proposed social media ban for children under 16, the privacy risks of age-verification requirements, and concerns about the effectiveness and implementation of the new online harms legislation. The link to the video can be found here.
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