What to know

Canada is looking into banning social media for children under the age of 14.

Matthew Johnson of digital media literacy charity MediaSmarts, says there are pros and cons to this decision.

Pros include giving Canadians a legal framework to operate under, while cons include taking away a valuable resource from marginalized kids, like those in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

Canada could soon follow in Australia’s footsteps with a social media ban for children under 14 years old.

Spearheaded by Culture Minister Marc Miller, federal government officials have drafted plans to add a social media ban for children under the age of 14 to the upcoming online harms bill, or Bill C-63.

Currently, social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Facebook ban kids younger than 13 years old from making accounts, but without any real enforcement, those younger can easily lie about their age.

If Bill C-63 is passed, then Canada would be the second country after Australia to enforce a social media age limit. In early December 2025, Australia banned teens under 16 years old from going on social media platforms, with the platforms themselves under fine for repeated offenses. The United Kingdom is also looking at enforcing a social media age limit.

Matthew Johnson, director of education for MediaSmarts, a registered charity based in Ottawa that researches and develops resources for advancing digital media literacy, says banning social media for kids isn’t a black or white situation.

One of the pros to this ban would be giving Canadians a legal framework to operate under.

“Establishing a minimum age under Canadian law would give offices like the office of the privacy commissioner, [digital] safety commissioner a stronger basis to act from,” Johnson says.

According to Johnson, this law could be beneficial for kids who are much younger than 13 years old.

“There’s some evidence that for kids who are significantly younger than 13, social media has more unambiguous harms. It can expose them to things they’re not ready for,” he says. “Like If they receive inappropriate stranger contact or if people are cyberbullying them.”

Currently, those younger than 13 don’t have any protections when it comes to social media, as they’re using the platform in violation of the terms of service. This means if something goes wrong, these users can’t report it.

“The fact that when they’re under 13, they’re using the platform in violation of the terms of service, which means that if something goes wrong, they can’t report it,” Johnson explains. “It would remove some of that [harm], and I think, more to the point, it would change their perception, because they no longer feel the need to constantly like friend’s photos and post all the time.”

One serious con of an age limit is the harm it might do to young people who receive a lot of benefits from social media.

“In particular, some of the young people who derive the most benefit are those from more marginalized and disadvantaged communities, particularly 2SLGBTQ youth rely very heavily on social media to find support, to find mentorship.”

Johnson also points out the social engagement benefits of online platforms, especially for activism.

“One of the things we found in our research is that the more young people engage in activities online that can be seen as risky, the more likely they are to do things we see as pro-social — like engaging in online activism.”

“We know the risks and benefits bundle together to a large extent.”

The federal government is looking to re-vote on Bill C-63 later this year.