Ottawa's new Digital Safety Act expected to include under-16 social media ban

Ottawa is set to introduce the Digital Safety Act, which would ban social media access for children under 16. Judy Trinh reports on the proposed bill.

OTTAWA — The federal government is expected to bar kids under the age of 16 from social media in new legislation set to be introduced as early as Wednesday.

The government gave notice Tuesday that it will introduce a bill “to enact the Digital Safety Act and the Digital Safety Commission of Canada Act.”

Culture Minister Marc Miller, who is taking the lead on the legislation, said the government will take all reasonable measures to ensure kids are safe.

“It’s obvious why it’s a priority. Kids are dying,” he told reporters on Parliament Hill.

Federal ministers declined to give details about the bill Tuesday, saying they could not do so before the bill is introduced due to parliamentary rules.

The bill is expected to include a ban on social media for kids under 16, although platforms that meet safety standards could obtain exemptions, according to reports in The Globe and Mail and National Post.

Ottawa said in its AI strategy, released last week, that it will also introduce legislation to address the safety of AI chatbots.

The legislation comes as a number of other countries are planning to introduce similar bans for kids on social media, and as questions are asked about interactions the mass shooter in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. had with ChatGPT.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser said the government’s motivation is to “ensure that we are being responsible when it comes to protecting kids in particular.”

An online harms bill introduced by the Liberals in 2024 would have created a digital safety commission to administer and enforce the legislation. That bill did not become law before the 2025 election was called.

Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said the new online safety legislation is a priority for the government.

He said the new bill is more likely to succeed than the government’s earlier attempt because “there’s a great realization in society that there are negative effects from social media use, maybe particularly among our youth, and this bill, when it’s tabled, will seek to address that.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2026.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press