A new bill is being tabled by the feds — which would officially ban social media for children under 16.The bill is being submitted Wednesday, part of an online harms bill, and would require companies to regulate "harmful content."The forthcoming bill would still give platforms the opportunity to meet the the safety standards outlined by the bill, according to a source associated with the bill, as reported by the Globe and Mail.This would include standards for AI chatbots and the like, as well as requirements to remove child sexual abuse material, and posts encouraging children to self-harm..A Canadian digital regulator will be created for the bill — which claims to set standards that mitigate harms to children.If the companies have followed the rules, they will be cleared, allowing those under 16 onto their platforms.Canadian Heritage Minister Marc Miller is guiding the bill through the House, which will also cover protocols for AI companies to report to law enforcement when they perceive "credible threats of violence," such as suicide. This specific notion stemmed from the Tumbler Ridge shooting in BC in February, when AI Minister Evan Solomon summoned executives of OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, whose chatbot was used to discuss scenarios involving gun violence with the shooter, Jesse Strang (legal name Van Rootselaar), but it was never reported to police.
