Federal social media bill threatens to undermine privacy rights, alienate youth: critics [audio] – NB Media Co-op
![Federal social media bill threatens to undermine privacy rights, alienate youth: critics [audio] – NB Media Co-op](https://nbmediacoop.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SocialMediaBanJun122026.jpg "Federal social media bill threatens to undermine privacy rights, alienate youth: critics [audio] – NB Media Co-op")
Publish Date: 2026-06-20 18:13:00
Source Domain: nbmediacoop.org
The federal government’s newly tabled Digital Safety Act is meant to protect children from harmful influences online, including violent extremists that prey on vulnerable youth, but some critics say the it will undermine civil liberties while making it increasingly difficult for young people to connect with their communities.
Listen to the interview with Prof. Erin Steuter of Mount Allison University:
If passed into law, Bill C-34 would require social media services to “implement adequate age-verification or age-estimation measures” preventing children under 16 from registering for an account.
Exemptions from that rule would be available to companies that enact “adequate safeguards” for the protection of children. Those exemptions would be handed out by a so-called Digital Safety Commission, which would also be created under the legislation.
In practice, it’s likely that social media users will have to upload sensitive identity papers for age-verification purposes, according to some observers. “That’s one of the things I’m quite concerned about,” said Erin Steuter, a professor of sociology at Mount Allison University.
“That’s a lot more personal information out there that could be susceptible to a hack or data harvesting by the company or third parties, and I think puts a lot more people at risk.”
Having an ID attached to people’s social media activity could also make it easier for governments to criminalize political speech, she said.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has raised similar concerns, calling age-verification mandates “highly invasive” and suggesting that such requirements will “create disproportionate challenges for marginalized communities.”
The CCLA stated that the bill raises “significant civil liberties concerns, including through the limitless powers it grants the government…
