Canada's Culture Minister introduced the Digital Safety Act, proposing to ban social media accounts for children under 16 and requiring AI chatbots to limit harmful content. Companies must demonstrate safeguards or face fines.
Canada is proposing the Safe Social Media Act, a ban for those under 16, with an exemption for tech firms demonstrating harm-minimization policies. The law also targets AI chatbots and harmful content, creating a new regulator. Similar measures are being considered globally, with Australia and the UK already enacting or eyeing bans.
The White House opposes the UK's proposed social media ban for under-16s, citing disproportionate burdens on US tech firms and advocating for parental tools instead.
Ofcom fined a US-based suicide forum £950,000 for its role in over 160 UK deaths. The fine highlights the ongoing struggle to make the internet safer and align online rules with offline penalties, despite challenges posed by US tech giants and legal loopholes.
‘Massive drop-off’ in successful prosecutionsPolice are ‘not getting the information in time’One of the UK’s leading police officers in prosecuting online harms has said the ability to secure identifying information from the social media company X has become “significantly worse” over the past 12 months.Mike Ankers, the deputy director of the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU), said there had been a “massive drop-off” in successful prosecutions in 2025, and that the Elon Musk-owned platform was “hiding behind” legal processes that delayed the identification of users posting hateful content online. Continue reading...
