The Safe Social Media Act needs major fixes

Safety legislation is one step forward, two steps back

June 10, 2026 — Today the Government of Canada introduced Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, which would enact the Digital Safety Act and create a new Digital Safety Commission of Canada. This legislation repeats much of the contents of Part 1 of the last parliament’s unpassed Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act. Despite C-34’s branding as a social media bill, the new bill goes significantly beyond the scope of Bill C-63, potentially regulating a long list of services including cloud storage, gaming, and message boards. OpenMedia is calling the bill a mix of overdue measures and serious missteps — and is pressing for major amendments before it becomes law.

“Today our government reintroduced some of the best parts of Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act, in new legislation,” said OpenMedia Executive Director Matt Hatfield. “Unfortunately, that step forward is marred by new provisions that threaten to require a face scan or ID requirement for dozens of services Canadians use every day, from gaming, to cloud storage, to your local community message boards. Canadians have shown again and again we don’t believe you should have to show your face or upload ID to live an ordinary online life. Our government needs to listen to them.”

“A duty of care for major online platforms that makes sure they have a reasonable plan to mitigate the worst illegal online content is something MPs should keep moving forward,” continued Hatfield. “But time and again, our government shoots this common sense approach in the foot by packaging it with intrusive proposals that go much too far into every Canadians’ life. The government has said they’re willing to take a good long time to hear feedback and will make needed amendments on C-34. Our campaign to make sure they do that starts today.”

Bill C-34 also includes a Canadian adaption of Australia’s controversial social media ban for young people under 16. Early reports from Australia’s e-safety commissioner have suggested that 70% of young people are continuing to access social media despite the ban, with no reduction in cyberbullying or image abuse complaints.

OpenMedia was a harsh critic of early overbearing online harms proposals, but believed Part 1 of Bill C-63, with the right amendments, should pass. Since last year, OpenMedia community members have sent nearly 3,000 messages to our government asking them to pass rights-respecting, duty of care centered online harms legislation.