(LifeSiteNews) — A proposed social media ban for children under age 16 could lead to Canadians being forced to “surrender” their personal data as some sort of condition to use the internet, a top constitutional freedom group warned.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) asserted that Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, includes the Digital Safety Act and the Digital Safety Commission of Canada Act.
According to the JCCF in a recent X post, Bill C-34 “deputizes affected social media platforms into forcing Canadians to surrender more data as a precondition of participation in the digital public square.”
“This, in turn, raises serious concerns about Canadians’ privacy rights and may engage constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure — guaranteed by section 8 of the Charter,” the JCCF noted.
The JCCF said that Bill C-34 creates a social media ban for Canadians under 16 “at the expense of all Canadians’ privacy.”
“Sections 26, 27(1), and 27(2) of Bill C-34 require that affected social media platforms ‘implement age-verification and age-estimation measures designed to prevent a person under the age of 16 from being able to have an account with, or be otherwise registered with,’ those social media platforms,” the JCCF pointed out.
LifeSiteNews reported that Bill C-34 was introduced by Culture Minister Marc Miller on June 10. 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 accounts on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and other platforms.
However, it has been reported that social media platforms may receive exemptions if they can demonstrate compliance with new safety standards for users, especially minors.
JCCF warns bills age verification laws won’t be limited to just those under 16
The JCCF noted that while Bill C-34 calls for the “protection” and “destruction” of “personal information that is collected for age-verification or age-estimation purposes,” the reality is that it’s not clear how this will be done.
“What is clear is that these measures must be ‘effective.’ Users commonly verify their age by submitting government-issued identification documents, such as driver’s licenses or passports,” the JCCF said.
The JCCF said that the technology exists for social media platforms to “estimate the ages of users through biometric data, e.g., facial geometry, eye shape, skin elasticity, hairline, etcetera.” According to the JCCF, the age-verification and age-estimation monitoring “will not be limited to Canadians under age 16,” as social media platforms will have to “evaluate the access eligibility of every user.”
“The goal of Bill C-34 is not merely to remove Canadians under age 16 from affected social media platforms but to keep them off those platforms. To achieve this goal, social media platforms may be compelled to adopt ongoing age-verification/estimation measures to ensure continued compliance,” the JCCF observed.
Overall, the JCCF warned that Bill C-34 will “fundamentally” change how “all Canadians access social media.”
The Liberal government has been flirting for some time with the idea of creating a national digital ID that could become a part of any social media ban.