CMAJ analysis urges Canada to pass Safe Social Media Act to protect children

Canada's proposed Safe Social Media Act, which aims to protect children, should be passed, according to an Analysis article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.261104. The article also identifies several factors the country should consider.

Currently before parliament, Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, aims to protect the physical and mental health of children in Canada while balancing their ability to access, connect through, and learn from digital platforms. If passed, the Safe Social Media Act will form a framework for digital safety with rules for online services, such as social media platforms, artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, and other online services. The proposed act also includes the creation of the Digital Safety and Data Protection Commission of Canada, with investigation and enforcement powers.

"Canada has an opportunity to catch up with other jurisdictions and build on their experience by establishing a regulator with sufficient scope, authority, and adaptability to address current and emerging digital harms," writes Dr. Charlotte Moore Hepburn, a pediatrician at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and an associate professor, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, with coauthors. "Because digital environments transcend national borders, Canada's response will form part of a broader international effort through the Global Online Safety Regulators Network to protect children online."

Canada is not the first jurisdiction to implement a social media safety framework, as the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Australia have implemented comprehensive safety legislation and oversight bodies to regulate and ensure safety.

"These jurisdictions offer valuable comparisons for Canada, particularly with regard to their commitment to instilling democratic values into policies and developing fully independent regulators," write the authors. "Although their legislative frameworks differ in important respects, they share a common philosophy: online safety requires reactive content moderation alongside proactive governance that codifies enforceable safe design standards, promotes transparency and holds companies accountable for the
design and operation of their services."

Based on the previous experience of these peer countries, Canada should:

• designate an independent regulator with authority, expertise, resources, and investigative powers as an essential component of the bill;
• prioritize safety by design to restrict harmful content, attention-maximizing design, and features that would allow strangers to connect with children, and ensure the regulator can mandate changes to protect children in future;
• ensure that the regulator has the scope, mandate, and tools to respond to emerging threats and evolving technologies; and
• rigorously evaluate the Safe Social Media Act to determine if the framework is achieving its goals to protect children while allowing them opportunities to use, and learn with, digital tools.

One aspect that is a Canadian innovation is the proposal to temporarily restrict accounts for children younger than 16 years until the digital platform can show it meets all enforceable standards.

"In a digital environment that transcends national borders, children will be better protected when jurisdictions act with ambition, coordination, and a shared commitment to child and youth well-being," the authors conclude.