Canada tabled Bill C-34 (Safe Social Media Act) on June 10, 2026, proposing the Digital Safety Act and the Digital Safety Commission of Canada Act in one omnibus bill. The bill is at first reading and has not passed. Once enacted, it will require designated social media and chatbot services to implement child-protection design features, age-verification for pornographic content, and new content moderation duties, with administrative penalties of up to C$10 million or 3% of global revenue.
What Changed
Bill C-34 creates two new statutes. The Digital Safety Act (DSA) imposes obligations on three service categories above a user-count threshold to be set by regulation: regulated social media services, regulated chatbot services, and other online services flagged as posing significant risk to children. The Digital Safety Commission of Canada Act (DSCC Act) establishes a new federal regulator, the Digital Safety Commission of Canada (DSCC), with enforcement and data-access powers.
Key provisions:
- Under-16 account ban: The DSCC can designate specific social media services where under-16s are prohibited from holding accounts, unless the operator obtains an exemption by demonstrating adequate child-protection safeguards.
- Chatbot duties: Operators must reduce risk of harmful content, interrupt chats when users express suicidal intent, and prohibit four behaviours: posing as human, posing as a licensed professional, using manipulative emotional-dependency techniques, and encouraging self-harm.
- Harmful content categories: Seven categories are defined, including non-consensual intimate content, child sexual victimisation, content pushing self-harm, child bullying, hate speech (with carve-outs for offensive content), incitement to violence, and terrorism or violent extremism. Carve-outs for legitimate purposes (journalism, art, education, etc.) apply where no undue risk to children exists.
- Digital safety plans: Platforms must file and publish risk assessments, moderation metrics, synthetic content labelling, and compliance resourcing with the DSCC. Trade secrets can be redacted from public versions.
- Researcher data access: Accredited researchers can access platform data inventories and, by DSCC order, underlying data under confidentiality and privacy conditions.
- Age verification: Required when serving pornographic content; methods to be specified by regulation.
Who Is Affected
The bill targets operators of social media services, AI chatbot services, and other online services that regulators determine pose significant risk to children. Exemptions include telecoms providing only basic internet connectivity, private messaging features, search engines, navigation tools, and e-commerce listings. Platforms are not required to proactively scan content, but the DSCC may require technology that blocks uploads of child sexual abuse material.
Compliance Timeline and Enforcement
The bill is at first reading. Key specifics — user-count thresholds, acceptable age-verification methods, and which services fall under the under-16 ban — will be set through regulations by cabinet and the DSCC. Until those regulations are published, obligations are not enforceable. Once in force, the DSCC can investigate complaints, summon witnesses, enter premises (including remotely), and issue compliance orders. Penalties escalate: administrative (C$10 million or 3% of global revenue), criminal on indictment (C$20 million or 5%), and criminal on summary conviction (C$15 million or 4%). The DSCC may name violators publicly. No jail time for unpaid fines.
Operational Impact
For platform and chatbot operators with Canadian users, the bill signals a shift toward a duties-and-design model rather than a blanket cutoff. Compliance teams should prepare to assess user counts, implement age-estimation systems for restricted content, and build product features that reduce exposure to the seven harmful categories. The chatbot requirements — particularly the ban on manipulative techniques and the obligation to interrupt and redirect users expressing self-harm — will require significant product and safety engineering. The DSCC's data-access framework also means operators should plan for structured data sharing with accredited researchers.
For Indian operators and policymakers, Canada's approach to under-16 bans, age verification with privacy safeguards, and chatbot duties provides a reference point. India is reportedly developing a graded national framework with three age brackets (8-12, 12-16, 16-18), and several states have proposed their own bans. Canadian developments on researcher data access and age-verification design will likely influence the Indian debate.
Monitor the bill's progress through the Canadian Parliament and the subsequent regulatory rulemaking that will set the precise thresholds and design requirements.
Source: Explainer: What Canada's Safe Social Media Act means for platforms, chatbots, and children
Domain: medianama.com
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