The potential of a proposed federal ban on social media for users 16 and under is sparking reactions from parents, teens and experts, as Canada weighs new rules under an expected Online Harms Act. While few details have been released, the proposal, which is expected to be introduced Wednesday, could mirror measures taken in Australia where platforms were ordered to block under-16 users and disable existing accounts. For some parents, the idea is long overdue. Evgeny Patrenko, a father of five, says his household already follows that approach. “We don’t let our kids on social media,” he said. “You just get exposed to absolutely everything and there are things that kids should not be seeing at that age.“ He says government action would reinforce what some families like his are already doing. “We will probably enforce that rule of social media whether they have the legislation or not,” said Patrenko. “But to have the government support is even better.” Among teens, reaction is far less certain. High school student Shaila Pose Aguilar, 18, says enforcement would be difficult in practice, citing Australian teens circumventing the country’s ban and posts she has seen on social media. “It’s probably not going to work. It’s going to end up the same thing as Australia,” she said. “It’s just not going to go well for our kind of generation. We’re very social media based, like everything’s on there all our sources of inspiration and connection are on there.” She says social media is already deeply embedded in daily life and that it’s parents that need to help regulate social media exposure, not government. “I’ve seen the negative impacts and definitely the positive,” said Pose Aguilar. “It’s definitely up to families to sort it out. Parents should really just be controlling the screen time and especially from a young age so it doesn’t really develop into an addiction.” Another student, Alexi Montague, 17, says the bigger issue is dependence on platforms. “The bad thing about social media is definitely the addiction,” he said. “I’m not too bad with social media myself. I mean, I think so at least, but many of the kids that you see now, even the little kids like five years old, they’re all over YouTube Shorts, TikTok and everything. He says while social media has benefits, its influence is hard to ignore. “It’s great to see what other people are doing around the world. But it’s infectious.” said Montague. Technology analyst Carmi Levy says concern over youth exposure is driving the push for regulation, but enforcement remains a major challenge. “Even though a ban is a highly imperfect solution to a very complex problem, and it is very easily bypassed by tech savvy and not so tech savvy kids, you got to start somewhere,” he said. “Kids are smart and they have access to technology banned or no ban. So, if you tell them no, their first response will be yes.” Levy says the Australian experience suggests bans can reduce access, but not eliminate it entirely, with many teens finding ways around restrictions. He also warns that gaps may widen if other technologies are excluded. “As we saw in Australia, AI chat bots were not included in the ban. Kids are now spending more time on those down under, which exposes them to even more risks,” said Levy. “Something needs to be done. Limitations need to be put in place, tools need to be put in the hands of both teenagers as well as their parents and members of the broader community to ensure that kids can be raised in a digitally safe environment and be ready for adulthood.”
