Soft Ban or Hard Verification Requirement?: Why Bill C-34's Social Media Ban Exemption Gets the Incentives Wrong and Comes Too Late to Matter

Bill C-34 will undermine privacy, parental rights… and be used to shut you up

Bill C-34 will undermine privacy, parental rights… and be used to shut you up Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms Special to Farmers Forum Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, is another example of the federal government’s ambition to censor the internet and undermine the privacy of all Canadians. The government claims that Bill C-34 […]

Soft Ban or Hard Verification Requirement?: Why Bill C-34's Social Media Ban Exemption Gets the Incentives Wrong and Comes Too Late to Matter

The debate over Bill C-34’s social media ban for those under sixteen has largely focused on the impact on users, including mandated age verification for millions, the privacy risks of verification technologies, and experience elsewhere suggesting the policy is ineffective. Defenders of the ban have characterized the Canadian approach as a “soft ban” that will allow social media companies to obtain exemptions provided they meet yet-to-be-determined safety standards. This approach is said to create incentives for companies to address safety concerns and qualify for the exemption. But a closer look at the bill reveals that the approach does not work, as even “safe” services will be required to implement age verification for tens of millions of users. By the time the Digital Safety Commission has figured anything out, the services will have verified most of the country and likely lost users in the process. This is true not only for services that require significant design changes, but even those services that today would be widely acknowledged to be safe for children.