To ban or not to ban? Experts wary of restricting social media access for kids, as feds watch Australian approach

After Australia banned social media for kids under the age of 16 last year, Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller said his office was looking at the policy’s impact as part of the government’s plan to address online harms. After 20 years as a paediatrician, Dr. Charlotte Moore Hepburn can speak first-hand to social media’s impact on Canadian children. “ with everything from children… engaging in highly-restrictive diets to an epidemic of eating disorders fuelled by chasing beauty norms… to cyberbullying leading to self-harm,” she said. “As someone who is fascinated by and delights in a developing brain, the ubiquitous nature of screens replacing human interactions is probably the most soul-crushing.” Hepburn, a faculty paediatrician at SickKids hospital in Toronto, described young people’s engagement with social media as “the largest unregulated clinical trial affecting human development in the history of civilization." SickKids paediatrician Dr. Charlotte Moore Hepburn. Handout photograph “This is a whole of society problem,” she told The Wire Report. “So, it needs a whole of society solution.” But an element of that hypothetical solution has come under increased scrutiny since The Globe and Mail reported the federal government has drafted a proposed social media ban for children under the age of 14. Currently, most social media platforms require users to be at least 13-years-old to register an account, but younger children can easily bypass these guardrails by pretending to be older. “The proposal… would first need cabinet approval,” read the Globe story published on Jan. 21. “Ministers are expected to consider the measure as early as .” The article also noted that any age restrictions on social media would likely be incorporated into a larger online harms legislation, which, as first reported by The Hill Times, is set to be re-introduced later this year. In 2024, Justin Trudeau’s government brought forward Bill C-63 in an effort to protect children from harmful content found online, but the proposed legislation died on the Order Paper when Parliament was prorogued the following year. The original bill did not include a social media ban for certain age groups, but centred on a new entity called the Digital Safety Commission, which would have been tasked with regulating the digital space. C-63 also sought to impose new “duties” on social media companies to ensure their websites remain safe and accessible for people of all ages. Government data suggests Canadian children are using the social internet with increasing regularity and, as of 2023, more than 70 per cent of young people had experienced hate, violence or other harmful behaviours online. Social media ban part of ‘suite of options,’ says Miller Following an appearance before the House heritage committee on Feb. 12, Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller would not divulge details of the forthcoming iteration of online harms legislation, though he acknowledged a social media ban is part of a “suite of options.” “But it’s not the only option, nor the most effective one, to be honest,” Miller (Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs, Que.) told The Wire Report. “There’s a segment of the population that is super vulnerable that I think the state can say, ‘we need to protect those kids,’ without substituting the role that parents have to play.” “So, that’s important, but the real question is the what and the how.” Miller said his office is “intimately” watching the policy response in Australia, where the government recently legislated a social media ban for children younger than 16-years-old, prohibiting them from accessing popular platforms, like Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook and Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Tiktok, and Snapchat. Other countries, including the U.K., France, and Indonesia, have also taken steps toward implementing bans. Additionally, the British government introduced an Online Safety Act in 2023, which placed a burden on social media platforms to take action against harmful content, while U.S. lawmakers have been debating a similar bill, known as the Kids Online Safety Act, since 2022. “We’re talking to our colleagues looking at what’s happening in Europe,” said Miller. “I think the lesson to learn from what we’re seeing… is we have to be concerted…, like what we’re seeing in the European Union and Australia.” “But, at the end of the day, we’re Canadian and we have to legislate for Canadians.” Miller refused to provide any clarity with regards to a timeline for a prospective social media ban, as well as the broader online harms legislation. All eyes turn down under It should be noted the cabinet minister is not the only keen observer of the Australian experience, as Canadian medical and child welfare experts are also monitoring the ban’s efficacy. “It is being rigorously evaluated by external scientists based out of Stanford, and we’re… looking forward to their early findings,” said SickKids’ Hepburn. “If appropriately designed, scoped and evaluated, there may be a role for an age ban as part of a comprehensive strategy.” “But I can’t emphasize enough how dangerous an age ban in isolation from other measures may be.” More specifically, Hepburn is worried that a broad age-based ban might “absolve” big tech companies from feeling obligated to address harmful content found on their websites, including disinformation, hateful imagery, and child pornography. “ can point to the ban and say, ‘children aren’t meant to be here, so we don’t need to make this space appropriate for children,” she said. “So, an already dangerous online environment could become even more so.” For University of British Columbia professor Heidi Tworek, there are lingering questions regarding the effectiveness of a potential ban, as well as the rationale behind determining an arbitrary age cut-off. “The Australian legislation is new, but we have already seen some research showing kids are just going to different social media channels,” said Tworek in an interview. “Because it wasn’t a total ban, it was just a ban on the most popular sites.” “And, of course, there are many other spaces where young people interact, including online gaming platforms…, so social media is just one part of it.” Tworek, the Canada Research Chair in history and health communications policy, also noted that children do not reach a certain age and suddenly become better equipped to traverse the various forms of digital harms found online, whether they are 14-years-old, 16-years-old, or any other pre-selected age. University of British Columbia professor Heidi Tworek. Handout photograph “We don't flip a switch when we turn 16,” she said. “And, if there’s a fear that these platforms are so dangerous that shouldn’t be accessing them at all, then what does that say about those that are over 16?” “Rather, than opting for a blanket ban, figuring out what it means for these to be safe. That’s the crucial question.” Tworek was among the 12 stakeholders who comprised a government-appointed advisory group for online harms in 2022, which helped shape the initial legislation. Other experts calling for any social media ban to be embedded within a more all-encompassing policy approach include Kiaras Gharabaghi, dean of Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Children and Youth Care, who said age restrictions are “not a bad idea,” but also not a “transformative” solution. Kiaras Gharabaghi, dean of Toronto Metropolitan University's School of Child and Youth Care. Handout photograph “Social media is not that dissimilar in its potential risks to driving a car,” said Gharabaghi. “And we certainly have age requirements for certain activities, including driving a car, so it’s not outside the realm of reasonableness.” “But I think it’s misleading to use age for that purpose because there is no meaningful way to pick an age and say it’s fair for everybody because it really depends on how people are situated developmental contexts.” Gharabaghi also took issue with the framing of a social media ban, emphasizing that it’s “punitive” and more likely to draw consternation from Canadian children. “It’s not that we ban driving before the age of 16, but rather we say you are eligible or you have the right to earn a driver’s licence as of age 16,” he continued. “I think young people hear about and see it as a breach of trust in their abilities to make decisions.” dlegree@thewirereport.ca

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To ban or not to ban? Experts wary of restricting social media access for kids, as feds watch Australian approach

Regulatory | By Davis Legree |February 12, 2026

After Australia banned social media for kids under the age of 16 last year, Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller said his office was looking at the policy’s impact as part of the government’s plan to address online harms.

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Regulatory |
By Davis Legree
|February 12, 2026