(LifeSiteNews) — One of Canada’s top constitutional freedom groups warned that a proposed social media ban for children under age 16 could create a host of “privacy-violating” rules leading to a nationwide-mandated digital ID.
Reacting to news of a social media ban proposed by the Liberal government, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) warned in an X post that the ban could lead to overreaching digital ID laws, noting that parents should be in charge of their children’s online use.
“The Justice Centre opposes government internet surveillance and the displacement of parents as the primary decision-makers responsible for protecting young people from online harms,” it said in its X statement.
“To be sure, many Canadians are concerned about the impact of social media on young people. However, a blanket social media ban implemented by the government is not the solution,” the JCCF said.
The JCCF noted that social media access for youth should “remain the domain of parents, not government.”
“Parents are best equipped to determine how their children use social media in alignment with their values and risk tolerance,” the JCCF stated.
The JCCF added that any social media ban will require age verification.
“This means that all Canadians, not just youths under 16, will have to verify their identities to access the affected platforms. This, in turn, will mean that all Canadians will be forced to surrender their private information to governments and technology companies — often in foreign jurisdictions — to use the platforms they use every day for business, leisure, and connection,” the JCCF warned.
“Once again, Canadians face the problem of privacy-violating digital identity technologies in the name of public safety.”
On June 10, Culture Minister Marc Miller announced Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, that includes the Digital Safety Act and the Digital Safety Commission of Canada Act. The full text of the bill is not yet available.
Besides banning social media for youth, the new bill will also force online platforms to have measures to report credible threats of violence or self-harm to the police.
It is expected that the social media ban will be like the one in place in Australia, which bans youth under 16 from having Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and other platform accounts.
However, it has been reported that social media platforms may get exemptions if they can prove that they meet new safety standards for users, especially minors.
The Liberal government had previously hinted that such a social media ban was forthcoming.
The Liberal government has been flirting with the idea of creating a national digital ID for some time that could become a part of any social media ban.
Indeed, LifeSiteNews reported recently that implementing a digital identification system in Canada will cost taxpayers a staggering $6.64 billion, according to federal managers working for the federal government.
