Canada introduces legislation to ban social media for children under 16, regulate AI chatbots

The Canadian government introduced a digital safety bill on Wednesday that would ban social media for children under 16 with exemptions for platforms that meet certain safety standards, months after Australia enacted the world’s first social media ban for young people.

The bill also aims to make AI chatbots safer by setting up a digital regulator to establish safety standards, a government official said.

Companies could face penalties of 3% of global revenue or up to C$10 million ($7.2 million), whichever is more, for failing to comply.