The Online Harms Act had a short first life. Introduced in February 2024, it died in January 2025 before it ever became law. But the federal government did not entirely log off on this.
In June 2026, Ottawa rebooted its online safety agenda with a new bill: Bill C-34, or the Safe Social Media Act. Here’s what that reboot looks like, and what every Canadian needs to know.
What happened to Canada’s Online Harms Act?
On February 26, 2024, then-minister of justice and attorney general Arif Virani introduced Bill C-63 or the Online Harms Act in the House of Commons. It was Canada’s first formal attempt to hold social media platforms legally responsible for harmful content on their services.
The Online Harms Act, however, was far more than a platform accountability bill. Under Bill C-63, the following changes were also proposed:
- a standalone hate crime offence, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment
- a new peace bond authority to deter hate propaganda offences before they occur
- increased maximum sentences for hate propaganda, with up to five years on indictment under s. 319 of the Criminal Code (up from two years), and up to life imprisonment for advocacy of genocide under s. 318 (up from five years)
- a codified definition of “hatred,” drawn from Saskatchewan (Human Rights Commission) v. Whatcott, 2013 SCC 11, and R. v. Keegstra, [1990] 3 SCR 697
- amendments to the Canadian Human Rights Act to address online hate speech
When Parliament dissolved in January 2025, the Online Harms Act died on the Order Paper.
In September 2025, Virani later joined Torys LLP as senior counsel, after choosing not to seek re-election following the resignation of prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Here’s the 2024 announcement when the federal government tabled the Online Harms Act:
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What is the Safe Social Media Act and what does it do?
Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, was introduced on June 10, 2026, by Marc Miller, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture. Unlike Bill C-63 or the Online Harms Act, Bill C-34 dropped the Criminal Code and hate speech provisions entirely. It focuses on how platforms are designed and how they manage harmful content.
The bill would enact two new laws:
- Digital Safety Act: sets out safety requirements for social media services and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot services
- Digital Safety Commission of Canada Act: creates a new independent regulator to enforce those requirements and support victims of online harms
Three duties that platforms must follow
Under Bill C-34, regulated services would be subject to three core obligations:
- Duty to Act Responsibly: platforms must assess and reduce risks of harmful content exposure, label synthetic content including deepfakes, and give users accessible tools to flag harmful material and block others
- Duty to Protect Children: platforms must implement age-appropriate design features and safeguards for younger users
- Duty to Make Certain Content Inaccessible: social media services must remove, within 24 hours, content that sexually victimizes a child or revictimizes a survivor, and intimate content shared without consent
Legal obligations of AI chatbots
For the first time, Bill C-34 also introduces direct legal obligations for AI chatbot services, which is a feature not found in the Online Harms Act.
Chatbots would be required to:
- mitigate the risk of communicating harmful content,
- implement emergency measures in crisis situations, and
- interrupt an interaction to direct users to crisis services if they express suicidal ideation or an intention to self-harm
All regulated platforms must also publish Digital Safety Plans, explaining how they identify and address risks on their services.
Listen to this podcast to learn more about the new Safe Social Media Act:
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Will kids be banned from social media in Canada?
No, kids will not be banned from social media in Canada, and possibly not in the way many expect.
Bill C-34 or the Safe Social Media Act would require social media platforms to implement age-verification measures that stop anyone under 16 from creating an account. Platforms demonstrating sufficient safeguards for children may apply for an exemption. However, Canada’s online harms bill does not specify how age should be verified, which platforms qualify for exemptions, or when the restriction would take effect.
Still, the data behind the proposal is serious. Rationalizing on the need for Bill C-34 or the Safe Social Media Act, the government provided the following studies:
- one in four youth aged 12 to 17 in Canada have reported experiencing cyberbullying
- youth who experience online victimization are significantly more likely to report poor mental health, including suicidal ideation
- police-reported incidents of online child sexual abuse and exploitation have increased in recent years
Canada is following Australia, which became the first country to ban children under 16 from social media, with its law taking effect in December 2025.
Maanit Zemel, a partner and internet law specialist at Zemel van Kampen LLP in Toronto, told Canadian Lawyer that “the bill lacks detail” on how platforms should verify users’ ages and which services would qualify for an exemption to the under-16 ban. Without specifics, platforms and parents are left guessing what compliance actually looks like.
Could Bill C-34 face a Charter challenge in court?
The Charter Statement for Bill C-34 or the Safe Social Media Act, tabled in the House of Commons on October 19, 2026, acknowledges that the minimum age requirement engages three Charter rights:
- Section 2(b): freedom of expression
- Section 8: protection against unreasonable search or seizure, given that age-verification involves collecting personal data
- Section 15: equality rights, since the restriction is age-based
In Ontario, a related legal battle is already underway. Michael Wolkowicz, partner and head of mass torts at Neinstein LLP, is leading a claim against Meta, Snapchat, and TikTok on behalf of Ontario school boards. In Toronto District School Board v. Meta Platforms Inc., 2025 ONSC 1499, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice allowed the case to proceed in March 2025, finding that the claim raised arguable questions about whether the platforms created “a public nuisance that requires a remedy.”
Wolkowicz told Lexpert that social media is “the biggest social issue of our time,” and that, as with tobacco and asbestos before it, litigation may be the primary driver of change.
Online Harms Act: turned off, but revived under Safe Social Media Act
Canada has been working on this problem for years. Bill C-63 or the Online Harms Act was the first attempt; now, Bill C-34 or the Safe Social Media Act is the reboot. Both rest on the same premise: online platforms must answer for the environments they build, not just the content user’s post.
However, a bill is not yet a law. Bill C-34 must still pass Parliament, survive Charter scrutiny, and be backed by regulations that address the gaps critics have flagged. Whether the legislation loads without crashing is a question Canada’s courts and regulators will be working through for some time to come.
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