CANADALAND Why Governments Want to Ban Kids From AI and Social Media
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Mar 10, 2026 
Sam Konnert, Ottawa reporter who frames the Canada angle. Thomas Juneau, former defence analyst turned Middle East security professor. Taylor Owen, McGill media ethics professor advising government on tech policy. They discuss Canada’s stalled online harms laws, whether to bar minors from social media, age verification and design-based safety, and how AI chatbots fit into new regulation.
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Core Online Harms Model Survives Past Failures
- Canadian governments have repeatedly promised online-harms legislation but previous bills stalled by drifting into speech and hate-law changes.
- Taylor Owen explains the core model surviving is an independent regulator forcing platform risk assessments, transparency, and penalties.
How Risk Assessments And Takedowns Would Work
- The proposed regulatory core requires platforms to do pre-launch risk assessments, mitigate identified harms, share data with researchers, and remove specific content fast.
- Notice-and-takedown would force 24-hour removal for non-consensual intimate images and child sexual abuse material, plus kid-specific protections like blocking unknown adults messaging minors.
Why Social Media Bans For Kids Are Politically Attractive
- Mass public support for banning kids from social media reflects deep parental frustration and a failure of governance, not just a policy choice.
- Owen favors a temporary moratorium for certain ages while a regulator and safety standards are established, not a permanent ban.