Blayne Haggart, Professor of Political Science at Brock University, and Natasha Tusikov, Associate Professor of Criminology at York University, co-wrote a piece recently published in Policy Options about the proposed Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, and its reliance on trusting major U.S. tech companies to self-regulate through a new independent regulatory body.

They write:

“Can you trust Mark Zuckerberg to design a socially responsible Facebook? How about Elon Musk with X or his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok?

The question of trust is at the heart of the Carney government’s recently tabled Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, which would include a new independent regulatory body.

To date, most of the debate on the bill has focused on its proposal to ban teens under the age of 16 from social media. Critics have raised questions about whether such a ban is constitutional and whether it would risk privacy and freedom of expression by requiring that all social media users submit proof of age.

Critics also question how effective a ban would be. In Australia, a “substantial proportion” of teens are circumventing a similar ban, sometimes with the assistance of the social media companies targeted by the country’s new rules.”

Continue reading the full article on the Policy Options website.