ESTABLISHING MINIMUM AGE STANDARDS TO IMPROVE DIGITAL PLATFORM ACCOUNTABILITY (2026)

Issue

Social media platforms and publicly accessible generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools are widely accessible to minors in Canada with limited age verification, insufficient safety guardrails, and inconsistent reporting requirements for dangerous or harmful behaviors.

The absence of enforceable minimum age standards, effective safeguards, and clear accountability frameworks creates risks to youth safety, public safety, and community well-being. These risks increasingly result in downstream impacts that are experienced by employers, small businesses, and local economies.

Canadian businesses and communities are often left managing the social and economic consequences of harms associated with digital platforms operated by large, multinational companies. Clear, consistent regulatory standards are needed to ensure appropriate safeguards, accountability, and reporting mechanisms.

Background

The rapid expansion of social media has brought undeniable benefits in communication and innovation. However, a substantial and growing body of research demonstrates that these platforms have contributed to measurable harm to young people in Canada and around the world[1]. Most social media platforms currently set minimum age requirements at 13 years[2]. Despite this, a 2021 study found that 38% of children aged 8 to 12 were actively consuming social media content[3]. Current age‑verification mechanisms rely largely on self-attestation and are inconsistently enforced.

Along with growing public concern (reflected in a 2026 national poll)[4], emerging research indicates that early and unrestricted access by young people to social media platforms may be associated with a range of risks, including:

• Increased risk of youth mental health challenges[5]
• Higher incidence of cyberbullying and online harassment[6]
• Greater exposure to violent or harmful content[7]
• Increased vulnerability to grooming and exploitation[8]
• Higher exposure to radicalization or facilitation of harmful conduct[9]

These risks are not only social in nature but are increasingly being experienced by employers and communities across British Columbia, particularly as they relate to workforce development and long-term economic stability.

The 2021 Facebook leak of internal documents showed the company’s own research found harms caused to teenage users of Instagram[10]. Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz’s 2023 book Broken Code: Inside Facebook and the Fight to Expose Its Harmful Secrets further detailed how the company chose to look away at how its own products were enabling human traffickers and drug cartels[11]. A 2023 study by the Stanford Internet Observatory found multiple social media platforms, including Instagram, were not only “openly advertising self-generated child sexual abuse material for sale” but that “children (often teenagers) are sharing these images amongst each other[12].”

If the above is a list of serious, unintended or intended consequences of social media, it is also important to recognize that addiction was not incidental, but an intended outcome, embedded in social media’s platform design from the beginning[13]. Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, said in a 2017 interview that the objective when developing Facebook was to create “a social validation feedback loop” that exploits “a vulnerability in human psychology[14].” Tristan Harris, a former Google employee and the co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology said “our choices are not as free as we think they are” in a 2017 interview[15]. Harris and other former tech employees speak at length about the harms of social media, especially on kids, in the 2020 Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma[16]. Dr. Anne Lembke further explains how social media use triggers the dopamine chemical response in human brains in her book Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence[17].

Taken together, this body of evidence demonstrates that the risks associated with unrestricted access to social media—especially for children and youth—are significant, well-documented, and ongoing. These harms are not isolated incidents but systemic outcomes of design, governance gaps, and insufficient regulatory oversight, with increasing implications for communities, workplaces, and local economies.

When credible threats or dangerous behaviors occur online, platforms may suspend or remove users but are not consistently required to report these incidents to Canadian law enforcement authorities[18]. This creates a gap in public safety and places additional pressure on communities, employers, and emergency response systems.

International jurisdictions have begun implementing stronger youth protection measures. Notably, Australia has introduced enforceable age-based access standards and increased regulatory oversight of platforms[19]. These developments demonstrate that comparable jurisdictions are taking action to address similar risks[20].

In British Columbia, communities have already experienced the very real consequences of harmful online activity. Incidents involving online exploitation, cyberbullying, and the rapid spread of harmful content have contributed to tragic outcomes, particularly among youth. In smaller and rural communities, these events are felt across entire populations, placing immediate strain on local systems, including schools, health services, emergency response, and local businesses. During such incidents, businesses are often required to continue operating while simultaneously supporting employees and community members experiencing grief, trauma, and disruption.  These situations are not isolated and have occurred in multiple BC communities, reinforcing the need for a more coordinated and preventative approach.

The business community has a direct and growing interest in safe, stable, and productive communities as these conditions are essential to workforce stability, economic growth, and long-term business sustainability. These impacts are increasingly being felt by employers across sectors, particularly in relation to workforce readiness, productivity, and workplace dynamics. The Chamber network is well-positioned to hold social media companies accountable for the effects of their products, particularly where those effects are being experienced by employers and local economies.

Employers across sectors are increasingly managing the downstream impacts of unregulated digital environments, including:

• Reduced productivity and attention capacity[21]
• Decreased capability to manage workplace feedback and professional conflict[22]
• Hampered ability to have complex, in-person, workplace conversations[23]Unreasonable expectations regarding career progression and wage increases[24]

These outcomes suggest an increasing number of young workers entering the labor market plagued by anxiety and depression. Therefore, it is in the best interest of businesses to promote a mentally sound and resilient generation of employees, ensuring a capable workforce that can contribute effectively to economic and community stability. Furthermore, these changes would level the playing field for Canadian businesses and Chamber members, allowing them to connect with their audience in a manner that is both ethical and transparent, rather than competing in an attention-driven market that prioritizes engagement over wellbeing. Pinterest's CEO has already supported this perspective, urging for a global response[25].

Balanced regulation does not inhibit innovation; rather, it supports long-term sustainability, consumer confidence, and trust in digital systems while providing businesses with clear and consistent operating environments. Such standards allow businesses to operate within predictable frameworks while ensuring appropriate protections for users. This distinction supports continued innovation while recognizing that different categories of technology require different levels of oversight and risk management.

The Chamber Recommends

That the Provincial Government:

1. Support digital literacy and safe-use education initiatives for youth, parents, educators, and employers, with a focus on responsible technology use and risk awareness.
2. Invest in youth mental health and addiction supports related to harmful or excessive digital platform use, recognizing impacts on families, workplaces, and communities.
3. Collaborate with federal and industry partners to ensure that education and workforce development systems reflect safe, balanced, and productive use of digital technologies.

That the Federal Government:

1. Establish a clear duty-to-report framework requiring platforms to notify appropriate Canadian law enforcement authorities when credible threats of violence, exploitation, or criminal activity are identified.
2. Implement proportionate and enforceable compliance measures, including financial penalties or operational restrictions, for companies that fail to meet safety, and reporting requirements.
3. Develop a national framework for digital platform accountability aligned with standards applied in other sectors affecting public safety, consumer protection, and workforce well-being.