Message Your Member Of Parliament, Your Senator, and The Prime Minister’s Office - Reintroduction Bill C-63 “Online Harms Act”
- The White Hatter
- 12 minutes ago
- 4 min read
A Call To Action For All Canadian Parents and Caregivers
The Government of Canada has announced plans to reintroduce Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act, in early 2026. As this discussion moves forward, there is growing pressure to model the bill on Australia’s recent approach, which relies heavily on age-gating and age verification requirements.
We are concerned that an age gating framework does not meaningfully address the core issue of platform accountability. Age limits do not change how digital products are designed, how data is collected, or how algorithms amplify risk. In our view, effective legislation must primarily focus on safety by design, requiring all technology companies, not just social media platforms, to reduce foreseeable harms through responsible product design, defaults, and safeguards, which is even more important now with the development of Artificial Intelligence platforms. Yes, some age gating is needed for platforms such as pornography sites, gambling sites, and other adult centric platforms, but it should not be the keystone for this legislation.
With parliamentary debate expected, we encourage our Canadian followers to participate in this process. If you share these concerns, consider copying and sending the message below to your local Member of Parliament, your Senators, and the Prime Minister’s Office. Constructive, informed input from families and caregivers matters, especially when decisions will shape the future of online environments young people navigate every day.
Links to help you find your Member of Parliament, your member of the Senate, and the Prime Minister’s Office are provided below.
Canadian Members of Parliament: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/search
Canadian Members Of Senate: https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/
Canadian Prime Minister’s Office: https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/connect/contact
Please forward or pass this article on to as many Canadian parents and caregivers that you know!
CUT AND PASTE BELOW & EMAIL TO YOUR MP, YOUR SENATOR, AND
PRIME MINISTER
Subject: Support for “Safety-by-Design Legislation” to Protect Youth Online - Reintroduction of Bill C-63 Online Harms Act
Dear [MP’s/Senator/Prime Minister Name],
I am writing to you as a concerned parent, caregiver, and your constituent about federal legislation that will be coming up for debate, surrounding youth online safety, with the reintroduction of Bill C-63 the “The Online Harms Act.” I urge you to advocate for Safety-by-Design legislation that holds technology companies accountable for the environments they build, instead of social media age gating laws that set a minimum access age such as 16. However, we do agree that for specific sites such as pornography sites, gambling sites, or other adult centric sites, robust age gating should be implemented.
Recent proposals for age gating social media are well intentioned, but evidence and expert analysis show this approach does not address the root causes of online harm. Australia’s new age gate requirement for platforms to block users under 16 illustrates key strategic and legal challenges; it does not change the environments where harm occurs, it can shift youth to less regulated apps, and it may create legal privacy and discrimination challenges tied to age verification systems. In practice, Australia’s new age gating law only restricts users under 16 from creating accounts. It does not prevent them from accessing or scrolling through the full content of platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, or Snapchat, without an account, and it does so without the parental or caregiver controls that are typically available when younger users are signed in under age-appropriate settings. (1)
Simply delaying access does not make digital spaces safer. Predators, harmful content, addictive algorithmic feeds, and risky design features do not disappear at an arbitrary birthday. Policy that focuses on age cut offs risks leaving the underlying risks unaddressed while creating new technical and privacy issues for families.
Instead, Canada should craft legislation that requires platforms to design for safety from the start. This means shifting responsibility to the companies that build and run online environments, with rules that include:
Must primarily focus on safety by design, requiring all technology companies, not just social media platforms, to reduce foreseeable harms through responsible product design, defaults, and safeguards, which is even more important now with the development of Artificial Intelligence platforms.
Limits on algorithmic amplification for users under 18 to reduce exposure to harmful or addictive content.
A legally binding duty of care requiring platforms to identify and reduce foreseeable risks to youth safety.
Strong restrictions on data collection from youth and teens, with independent auditing and oversight.
Meaningful and transparent reporting systems with real human support, not just automated bots.
Enforcement mechanisms and penalties that drive real compliance, not just symbolic fines.
Tools that empower parents to make age-appropriate choices for their children, such as device-level controls that reflect individual readiness.
This approach protects youth more effectively than putting a legislative age limit on access. Youth development cannot be reduced to a single number, and many teens benefit socially, emotionally, and educationally from digital engagement. Regulations should improve safety for all users and mitigate the real design-driven risks that make social platforms harmful, rather than only postponing when someone first logs in. To read a more in-depth article that takes a deeper look at this issue, please have a look at this link provided by a Canadian digital literacy and internet safety expert who has presented to over 680,000 youth and teens from across Canada. (2)
I respectfully ask that you publicly support Safety-by-Design principles in any Online Harms bill under consideration, and advocate for measures that genuinely make digital spaces safer for Canadian children and teens. This is a public safety issue that calls for careful, evidence-based policy, not blunt age-gating measures like those in Australia, which were introduced, fast-tracked, and passed into law in just nine business days.
Thank you for your time and attention.
References:
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[City / Riding]
[Contact Information]
