Liberal Members Adopt Resolution to Restrict Kids’ Access to Social Media

Liberal Party members voted to adopt a resolution making 16 the age of maturity for the use of social media and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, with companies responsible for enforcement.

The party voted on multiple policy resolutions on April 11 at its convention held in Montreal. The resolutions passed by party members are non-binding for the Liberal government, but serve as a blueprint of what the grassroots wish the party to do.

The adopted policy states that the proposed Online Harms Act that is currently before the Senate doesn’t go far enough to protect children from harms of social media. The policy resolution says that “youth face risks online, including cyberbullying, extortion, sharing non-consensual images, hateful content, addicting design features that harm mental health.”

The resolution is similar to Australia’s measure enacted in December that made the country the first to enforce age limits for the use of social media. Australia’s legislation includes penalties for companies that fail to enforce the restrictions.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said recently that the idea of imposing age restrictions for social media “merits an open and considered debate in Canada,” but said he doesn’t have a settled position on it at the moment.

A recent survey of Canadians by the Angus Reid Institute suggested that 75 percent of people support a full ban on social media use for those under the age of 16.

The resolution is championed by Quebec Liberal MP Rachel Bendayan, who says prolonged social media use can be harmful to the mental health of children.

“I was very surprised to see so many teenagers and people within the age group I was targeting tell me they were in favour of this resolution, in part because they felt they have no choice but to be on social media,” she told reporters at the convention.

“It’s not a ban for a ban’s sake. It’s something that would change the way society operates at the moment.”

Other Resolutions

Delegates at the Liberal convention also deliberated on a series of policy resolutions covering issues such as electoral reform, trade, and health care.

Delegates passed a resolution to “explore proportional representation” in the future.

They also voted against a resolution to restrain provinces from over-reliance on the notwithstanding clause of the Constitution to override Charter challenges.

Quebec MPs Patricia Lattanzio and Joël Lightbound both spoke out against the resolution.

Quebec has been using the provision for decades, including for its language and secularism laws.

The federal government has issued a submission to the Supreme Court of Canada requesting limits on the use of the clause. Several premiers have jointly objected to Ottawa’s request, but Justice Minister Sean Fraser has dismissed their request for the feds to drop the request.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.