B.C. government wants feds to take lead on youth social media ban - BERITAJA

The B.C. authorities says it wants the national authorities to return the lead connected a social media prohibition for youth.

This comes aft Manitoba’s premier precocious announced plans to limit societal media and chatbots for kids successful his province.

“Both curate (Rick) Glumac and I person written letters to the national authorities that we deliberation sets a beardown regulatory authorities erstwhile it comes to societal media and AI chatbots,” Attorney General Niki Sharma said connected Friday.

“There are immoderate clear things that we’re asking for.”

The state says it wants to spot immoderate national authorities to reside online harms see age-appropriate design standards, make compliance mandatory, found oversight to guarantee compliance and age-related restrictions erstwhile platforms cannot show they are safe for youth.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kniew said they are not waiting for the national government.

Australia put a similar prohibition successful spot past December, but early reviews of the authorities are mixed, pinch arsenic galore arsenic 70 per cent of group nether the property of 16 saying they person recovered ways about the ban.

Canadians do look to support a akin ban.

An Angus Reid Institute poll released successful March recovered that “banning those nether 16 from platforms would beryllium good received by the immense mostly of Canadians,” pinch three-quarters (75 per cent) opportunity they support a “full prohibition connected societal media usage for anyone nether the property of 16.”

Among parents pinch kids successful the household, support is besides beardown astatine 70 per cent.

Carol Todd’s teenage daughter, Amanda, died by termination successful 2012 aft being extorted by an online predator.

She’s now a salient integer literacy advocate, but wonders if a younker societal media prohibition is the answer.

“I spot it arsenic a bigger conversation, alternatively than 1 that conscionable says we’re going to prohibition aliases restrict societal media disconnected our children,” Todd told BERITAJA

The national authorities has been moving connected its latest online harms measure for much than 2 years, trying to find the equilibrium betwixt protection and privacy.

But immoderate group don’t support that work.

“Frankly, 1 of the worst things a authorities could do is spell to that low-hanging fruit, aliases the cognition of low-hanging fruit, jump successful pinch bad authorities conscionable to opportunity look we did something,” Michael Geist, a professor astatine the University of Ottawa, said.

The state wants to spot advancement from Ottawa connected this rumor and if not, they opportunity they could travel successful Manitoba’s footsteps and floor plan their ain course.

–with files from Ben O’Hara-Byrne