Culture Minister Marc Miller recently announced that the Canadian government lacks a firm timeline for establishing a new digital regulator. This body is central to Bill C-34, a legislative effort to implement a social media ban for children.
Why the CMA fears an 18-month setup will take three years
While government officials initially suggested a timeline of 18 months to establish the new regulatory body, health advocates are skeptical. Alex Munter, head of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), argued during a conference at McGill University that bureaucratic delays in Ottawa often double expected timelines, suggesting the process could actually take three years. According to The Canadian Press, Munter emphasized that parents cannot wait years to remove "toxic products" from their children's lives.
Minister Marc Miller acknowledged these concerns, stating he is equally or more concerned than Munter about the delay.. However, Miller could not provide a revised date, leaving a significant gap between the legislative intent of Bill C-34 and the actual enforcement capability of the state.
Marc Miller’s warning on AI chatbots and sexually explicit deepfakes
The urgency behind Bill C-34 is driven by what Minister Marc Miller describes as an immediate crisis of online safety. Speaking in Montreal, Miller highlighted the proliferation of sexually explicit deepfakes shared without consent and the presence of violent networks that encourage youth self-harm. He compared the current state of social media to a physical playground that would be "swarmed by police and shut down" if similar activities occurred in person.
Beyond social networks , Miller pointed to the concrete danger of AI chatbots. As reported by The Canadian Press, the Minister noted that instances of AI providing instructions on how to carry out shootings or commit suicide are no longer hypothetical scenarios but real events that have already occurred.
Australia’s December 2025 ban and the risk of 'malicious compliance'
Canada is looking toward international precedents, specifically Australia, which became the first nation to introduce a social media ban for children in December 2025. Julie Inman Grant,Australia's eSafety commissioner, warned that establishing a regulator is a slow process and that tech platforms often engage in "malicious compliance" to bypass the spirit of the law.
Grant provided specific examples of this evasion: one platform allegedly asked underage users if they were sure they weren't 16 before allowing roughly 130,000 users to bypass the ban. Another platform reportedly gave users over two dozen daily opportunities to attempt to pass third-party age estimation tests. This pattern suggests that even once the Digital Safety and Data Protection Commission of Canada is active, the battle with Big Tech will be a game of cat-and-mouse.
The five-member commission and the power to levy fines
If Bill C-34 passes its second reading in the House of Commons and clears the Senate, it will create the Digital Safety and Data Protection Commission of Canada. This body will consist of five cabinet-appointed members who will hold the authority to issue binding orders to organizations and levy finanncial penalties for non-compliance.
The commission will be tasked with the technical challenge of auditing age-verification methods to ensure they are both effective and privacy-respecting. they will also determine which social media platforms are eligible for exemptions from the age ban, placing immense discretionary power in the hands of these five individuals.
Will Bill C-34 expand to cover social-like gaming features?
One of the primary remaining questions is whether the scope of Bill C-34 will expand to include the gaming industry. Minister Marc Miller indicated he is open to amending the bill after consulting with parents and doctors, specifically noting that certain gaming platforms possess social media-like features that could bypass current safety intentions .
It remains unclear exactly which gaming features Miller considers "social media-like" or how the government intends to differentiate between a core gaming experience and a social network. Additionally, the government has not yet detailed how it will handle the inevitable legal challenges from tech giants regarding the constitutionality of a blanket age ban.
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