C-216 (45-1) - Promotion of Safety in the Digital Age Act
Chamber
commons
Stage
1st Reading
Introduced
Jun 19, 2025
Progress
This bill creates new protections for minors online, strengthens child exploitation reporting rules, and adds Criminal Code offences for AI-generated intimate images and online harassment.
Key Changes
- Creates a new duty of care requiring online platforms to protect minors from harms including sexual exploitation, addiction-like design, mental health risks, and predatory marketing
- Requires platforms to provide default safety settings and parental controls for users known or reasonably believed to be minors, with fines up to $25 million for violations
- Gives minors and their parents a private right of action to sue platforms for serious harm caused by failure to meet the duty of care
- Expands mandatory reporting obligations for internet services regarding child sexual abuse material, including requiring transmission data and extending data preservation to one year
- Creates a new Criminal Code offence for distributing AI-generated or digitally altered fake intimate images without consent, with penalties up to 14 years in serious cases
- Adds online harassment via social media or digital networks as a distinct form of criminal harassment, with anonymous communication treated as an aggravating factor at sentencing
Gotchas
- The bill defines 'child' as under 16 and 'minor' as under 18, creating two tiers of protection with stricter defaults for younger users, which may complicate compliance for platforms
- Platforms are prohibited from requiring digital identity credentials for access, which may limit their ability to perform the age verification the bill simultaneously requires
- The due diligence defence in section 18 means platforms that can show reasonable efforts to comply may avoid criminal liability, potentially limiting enforcement effectiveness
- Parts 2 and 3 (Criminal Code and reporting amendments) come into force only after a separate 2024 Act on child sexual abuse material is in force, creating a conditional timeline
- The private right of action for minors and parents could lead to significant civil litigation against platforms, but requires proof of 'serious harm,' which is defined but may still be difficult to establish in court
Who's Affected
- Owners and operators of social media platforms, apps, and online services accessible in Canada
- Minors (under 18) and their parents or guardians
- Children (under 16) who receive additional default protections
- Victims of non-consensual AI-generated intimate images (deepfakes)
- Victims of online harassment
- Internet service providers subject to mandatory child exploitation reporting rules
- Law enforcement bodies designated to receive mandatory reports
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- The bill defines 'child' as under 16 and 'minor' as under 18, creating two tiers of protection with stricter defaults for younger users, which may complicate compliance for platforms
- Platforms are prohibited from requiring digital identity credentials for access, which may limit their ability to perform the age verification the bill simultaneously requires
- The due diligence defence in section 18 means platforms that can show reasonable efforts to comply may avoid criminal liability, potentially limiting enforcement effectiveness
- Parts 2 and 3 (Criminal Code and reporting amendments) come into force only after a separate 2024 Act on child sexual abuse material is in force, creating a conditional timeline
- The private right of action for minors and parents could lead to significant civil litigation against platforms, but requires proof of 'serious harm,' which is defined but may still be difficult to establish in court
Summary
Bill C-216 is a three-part private member's bill introduced by MP Michelle Rempel Garner. Part 1 creates a new law called the Protection of Minors in the Digital Age Act, which requires social media platforms, apps, and online services to protect users under 18. Platforms would need to provide safety settings, parental controls, age verification, and annual transparency reports, and would be prohibited from using personal data to market harmful products to minors. Minors and their parents could sue platforms directly if serious harm results from a failure to meet these duties. Part 2 updates existing laws on mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse material online. It expands which internet services must report such content, requires transmission data to be included with reports when the material is clearly child sexual abuse material, extends data preservation from 21 days to one year, and extends the prosecution limitation period to five years. Part 3 amends the Criminal Code to create a new offence for sharing AI-generated or digitally altered fake intimate images of real people without their consent. It also adds online harassment (via social media or digital networks) as a specific form of criminal harassment, with anonymous or false-identity communication treated as an aggravating factor. Courts would also gain new tools to identify anonymous online harassers and require them to enter into peace bonds.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses