Liberals don’t expect online harms bill to pass before summer recess

The Liberal government is expected to table its long-awaited online harms bill as early as Wednesday — but it’s not projected to become law before Parliament breaks for the summer, according to Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon. Speaking to reporters ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, MacKinnon said the proposed legislation, listed on the Notice Paper on Tuesday, is a “priority bill for the government,” but said there likely wasn’t “enough time left on the clock” before the House rises for its monthslong summer break. “This is a very important issue,” said MacKinnon (Gatineau, Que.). “I think there’s a great realization in society that there are negative effects from social media use, maybe particularly among our youth, and this bill … will seek to address that.” Parliament is set to hit pause for the summer next Friday, though MPs could agree to rise earlier. MPs will also vote on whether to extend House sitting hours for the next two weeks, as the government attempts to shepherd various bills through both chambers before the deadline. Prime Minister Mark Carney (Nepean, Ont.) and Culture Minister Marc Miller (Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs, Que.) declined to comment on the bill’s details, citing parliamentary privilege, but The Globe and Mail reported on Monday that the legislation will include a social media ban for children under the age of 16. The ban is expected to be a moratorium, allowing operators to apply to have kids under 16 back onto their platforms if they can prove they made necessary safety adjustments. The Liberal plan to revive online harms legislation, which was initially brought forward under Justin Trudeau’s government, but died before receiving Royal Assent, was first reported by The Wire Report. After various floor-crossings and by-election victories, the Liberals currently own a majority in the House of Commons for the first time since 2019, likely easing the legislation’s progression through Parliament. Emily Laidlaw, who was part of the government’s reconvened digital safety advisory group, previously told The Wire Report the bill is not expected to be a carbon copy of the Trudeau-era legislation, but rather a fine-tuned version of part one of the previous Bill C-63, that could also scope in artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and gaming platforms. Part of the forthcoming bill is also expected to revive the government’s proposal to establish a digital regulator to implement new rules for social media platforms and enforce the act. “Suffice to say, we will take all reasonable measures to make sure kids are safe in this country,” said Miller on Tuesday morning. “I think it’s obvious why it’s a priority — kids are dying.” The bill’s official title will be: An Act to enact the Digital Safety Act and the Digital Safety Commission of Canada Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts. Laidlaw, Canada Research Chair in cybersecurity law at the University of Calgary, told The Wire Report on Monday there was division among the advisory group members on the effectiveness of social media bans and how to factor in children’s right to freedom of expression. “I think that there some fair questions about, is this just going to incentivize children to go to other sites that are even less regulated?” “There was a lot of division about it, and I think . . . that’s probably the same view across Canada. So it ends up really being a policy choice of the government how to proceed.” Laidlaw confirmed the idea for a moratorium ban came up in the group’s April discussions. Although she’s always been in between on the idea of age-related bans for children older than 13, Laidlaw thinks the moratorium “is actually a good approach.” “The number one thing that is going to protect children is putting in place safety measures,” she said. “That is the main goal of the online harms legislation. Any sort of ban is really secondary, because it doesn’t do anything further to make the spaces safe.” “The moratorium is kind of a more elegant approach to deal with more immediate impact,” she said, adding that it provides an avenue for companies to demonstrate they are putting in “meaningful” safety measures. Heidi Tworek, Canada Research Chair in history and public policy and the University of British Columbia, also sat on the advisory group. She told The Wire Report it's hard to predict what the government will take from the group’s discussion, especially in areas where there wasn’t broad consensus. “Other parts of this discussion were really trying to come to grips with how bans have actually been working, rather than in theory,” she said, adding the group looked at data coming out of Australia’s social media ban. We were looking at “some of the technicalities that really help us understand yeah, there could be a ban in theory. But is it actually advantageous?,” she said. Tworek said a moratorium ban “could be” the way to go, but will be interested to see how it works out, as other jurisdictions have not taken the same approach. She also hopes to see greater systemic safety measures for all users, arguing bans send a message to operators that governments are worried about the effects of their platforms. When the bill is tabled, Laidlaw will be reading it “very carefully” to understand how the legislation plans to scope in artificial intelligence chatbots and whether it will introduce mandatory reporting requirements. As for Tworek, she will also be looking closely at the details about how the regulator will be staffed. “Because it’s great to have a bill on the books but the question is how are you going to enforce it?,” she said. “It’s a more nerdy, in the weeds thing to look for, but I think it’s going to be really essential seeing how this can actually unfold whether there’s going to be the capacity to enforce this bill.” With files from Davis Legree mcollins@thewirereport.ca

Liberals don’t expect online harms bill to pass before summer recess

Regulatory |
By Maria Collins
|June 9, 2026

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Liberals don’t expect online harms bill to pass before summer recess

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