Bill C-34 (Safe Social Media Act):
Building Safer Digital Spaces for Children
Bill C-34 represents a significant step in Canada’s approach to online safety and the protection of children and youth in digital spaces.
As technology continues to shape how young people connect, communicate, and learn, we believe child safety must be part of the design — not an afterthought.
Daughter Project Canada is following this legislation closely, with a focus on what it means for prevention, child safety, and the shared responsibility to create safer digital spaces.
What is Bill C-34?Bill C-34, also known as the Safe Social Media Act, is a federal bill that would enact two new laws: the Digital Safety Act and the Digital Safety Commission of Canada Act.
These laws would include:
A “Duty to Protect Children” requiring safer design, age-appropriate protections, and measures to keep minors under 16 off social media and away from pornographic content.
A 24-hour takedown requirement for CSAM and non-consensually shared intimate images.
New obligations on AI chatbot services, including crisis-intervention requirements.
Mandatory transparency in the forms of public Digital Safety Plans and reporting obligations for platforms.
A new enforcement body (Digital Safety Commission of Canada) with actual penalties attached for violations.
This bill creates a framework requiring social media platforms and AI chatbot services to identify and address risks of harm, meet child-safety design requirements, and answer to a new regulator, the Digital Safety Commission of Canada.
Why Bill C-34 mattersChildren and youth are growing up in an online environment that was not designed with their safety in mind. Social media, messaging platforms, and AI-powered services can create opportunities for connection, communication, learning and play, but they can also expose children and youth to harmful content, exploitation, grooming, and other forms of online harm.
63% of sextortion incidents occurred on Instagram or Snapchat.
1 in 4 minors aged 9-17 report they have had a sexual interaction online.
At Daughter Project, we believe child safety must extend to the spaces where children spend their time — including online.
Creating safer digital environments requires prevention, thoughtful design, accountability, and shared responsibility.
Bill C-34 matters because it recognizes that the companies and services shaping children’s online experiences have a role to play in protecting them, too.
Why this advocacy is importantBill C-34 is an important part of a broader approach to preventing child sexual exploitation and creating environments where children and youth can grow, connect, and participate safely.
As Bill C-34 moves through the legislative process, Daughter Project will be watching closely to understand how the proposed legislation could strengthen the prevention of child sexual exploitation online.
In particular, we are interested in how the legislation addresses prevention, safer digital environments, platform accountability, and emerging risks associated with technology and AI.
We will continue to follow the bill and engage in the process as opportunities arise, advocating for approaches that prioritize the safety and well-being of children and youth.
“We have seen the very serious consequences that online harms have. As technologies evolve, we must ensure our laws keep pace, because parents cannot face these challenges alone. This legislation will introduce responsibilities for online platforms to ensure their services are safe by design and include appropriate measures to keep children safe.”
The Honourable Marc Miller
Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture
What Daughter Project Canada will bring to Parliament:
Push for the age-verification and design regulations to be survivor-informed and prevention-first, not just compliance checkboxes for platforms.
Ensure the AI chatbot duties explicitly cover grooming and exploitation risk, not only generic “harmful content.”
Advocate that the Commission’s consultation process includes frontline prevention organizations, not just industry/legal experts.
Call for mandatory public reporting data the Commission collects to include exploitation-specific metrics Daughter Project can use in future advocacy.
Flag that 24-hour CSAM takedown is necessary but not sufficient. We will reinforce the same “harm reduction over technical thresholds” framing we used for Bill C-16.