Source: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has released a new report calling on Parliament to reject Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act. The organization argues that the legislation, presented as a child-protection measure, would impose broad identity screening, expand monitoring of online activity, and create a powerful new regulator with extensive authority over digital speech and platforms.
At the centre of the bill is a ban on social media access for anyone under 16, combined with requirements that platforms verify the age of users. In practice, verifying that someone is not under 16 means verifying the identity of every user, including adults. The report warns this would lead to widespread collection of personal information through government ID, biometric scans, or similar methods, creating significant privacy risks for the entire population. Evidence from Australia’s experience with a comparable ban suggests many under-16s still maintain accounts while parental awareness of their children’s activity has sometimes declined, meaning the privacy cost is paid without fully achieving the stated goal.
The bill also establishes a Digital Safety Commission with broad powers to set standards, order content removed, audit platforms, and impose large financial penalties. Many of the critical details — which platforms are covered, what counts as adequate verification, and how “harmful” content will be defined — are left to future regulations and the commission itself. The Justice Centre notes that this structure gives a cabinet-appointed body substantial influence over what Canadians can say and see online, while also extending oversight to certain AI chatbot interactions.
The report draws a distinction between targeted age verification for dedicated pornography sites, which it considers a more focused and justifiable measure, and a population-wide verification regime for general social media use. It further argues that the most serious online harms against children and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images are already prohibited under the Criminal Code. Stronger enforcement of existing laws, rather than a new regulatory apparatus that screens every user, would be a more proportionate response.
Bill C-34 is part of a larger pattern of federal legislation expanding government reach into digital life. The Justice Centre’s position is that the combination of mandatory identity checks, expanded monitoring, and a powerful new censor goes beyond what is necessary to protect children and unjustifiably limits Charter rights to privacy, expression, and parental authority. Parliament still has the opportunity to reject or substantially rewrite the bill before those powers become permanent.
