The Canadian government has introduced a new law to stop children under the age of 16 from using social media platforms. This plan will be managed by a new regulatory body.

加拿大政府推出了一項新法案，旨在防止 16 歲以下兒童使用社交媒體平台。此計劃將由一個新的監管機構負責管理。

The proposed Safe Social Media Act aims to reduce mental health problems and exploitation among minors by setting a general age limit for social media. While some platforms may be exempt if they meet safety standards set by the new Digital Safety Commission of Canada, adult pornography services will not be allowed. Companies that do not follow these rules could face fines of 10 million Canadian dollars or 3% of their global annual revenue, whichever is higher. The law covers seven types of harmful content, such as material that encourages violence, hatred, or the sexual abuse of children.

擬議中的《社交媒體安全法》旨在透過為社交媒體設定一般年齡限制，以減少未成年人的心理健康問題與被剝削的情況。雖然若某些平台符合加拿大新成立的數位安全委員會所設定的安全標準，可能會獲豁免，但成人色情服務將不被允許。不遵守這些規則的公司可能面臨 1,000 萬加幣或全球年營收 3% 的罰款，以較高者為準。該法律涵蓋了七類有害內容，例如鼓勵暴力、仇恨或性虐待兒童的素材。

There are different opinions between the federal government and provincial leaders. For example, the government of British Columbia believes the law is a good step, but they argued that it is not enough because it does not include AI chatbots in the age ban. This concern follows a mass shooting in February, where OpenAI reportedly failed to warn authorities about a user's violent conversations with a chatbot. Consequently, B.C. officials want a national system for reporting serious threats. On the other hand, Culture Minister Marc Miller emphasized that the risks of AI are not as well-documented as those of social media, although AI companies must still have crisis intervention plans.

聯邦政府與省政府領導人之間存在不同意見。例如，英屬哥倫比亞省政府認為這項法律是良好的一步，但他們認為這還不夠，因為年齡禁令中未將 AI 聊天機器人納入。這一擔憂源於 2 月發生的一起大規模槍擊案，據報導 OpenAI 當時未能就一名使用者與聊天機器人的暴力對話向當局發出警告。因此，卑詩省官員希望建立一個全國性的嚴重威脅通報系統。另一方面，文化部長 Marc Miller 強調，AI 的風險不像社交媒體那樣有詳盡的紀錄，儘管 AI 公司仍必須擁有危機干預計劃。

Globally, Canada's approach follows a trend toward stricter digital protection. Australia has already started a similar ban for under-16s, and countries like France and the UK are considering similar rules. In the UK, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy stated that platform owners making money from social conflict is a failure for society. However, this move might cause diplomatic tension with the United States, which sees some Canadian digital rules as trade problems. Furthermore, Meta has called these bans counterproductive, and civil liberties groups argue there is not enough evidence to prove that social media causes mental illness.

在全球範圍內，加拿大的做法符合趨向更嚴格數位保護的趨勢。澳洲已經開始對 16 歲以下人士實施類似禁令，而法國和英國等國家也在考慮類似的規則。在英國，副首相 David Lammy 表示，平台所有者利用社交衝突獲利是社會的失敗。然而，此舉可能會導致與美國出現外交緊張，因為美國將部分加拿大的數位規則視為貿易問題。此外，Meta 稱這些禁令適得其反，而公民自由團體則認為沒有足夠證據證明社交媒體會導致精神疾病。

The Safe Social Media Act is currently waiting for approval from Parliament. The regulatory commission is expected to be established in about 18 months.

《社交媒體安全法》目前正等待國會通過。監管委員會預計將在約 18 個月後成立。