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News & Current Events Apr 26, 2026 at 2:07 AM

Manitoba to ban social media, AI chatbots for youth — a first in Canada

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Forikorder 16 hr ago +348
we need to throw out the fallacy that its only a problem for children, we need to focus on cracking down on misinformation and predatory algorithims while teaching kids to spot misinformation
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EnvironmentalChard16 16 hr ago +91
I absolutely agree with all your points, but it absolutely has developmental consequences in children.
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NumeralJoker 15 hr ago +63
Even if that's true, this is the worst possible solution to it. I understand much of our concept of "anonymous" is already fragile, but uploading full IDs opens up much worse risks for something as basic as the right to speak out against authoritarian governments, or anonymously criticize corporations. I refuse to accept anything that gives governments or corporations that much more legal influence or control over us.
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huehuehuehuehuuuu 13 hr ago +28
They aren’t trying for a solution. It’s surveillance.
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NumeralJoker 13 hr ago +8
Very much so, and there's no way in hell I'll support the destruction of independent art and media preservation and political speech against conservative governments to "think of the children" when those same kids will just get brainwashed into becoming the same violent terrorist idiot incels starting at age 18 rather than 16 after some random girl rejected them because we did nothing to actually address the roots of the cultural issues and the social toxicity that caused all this in the first place. Many of the worst actors and influencers on social media and our culture in general use their face and name in public anyway. The problem comes mostly from our failure to teach people not to fall for scams, grifters, and influencers, not from kids alone gaining access to the internet. There's other major problems people ignore. Bot networks? This may seem like it'd clamp down on them at first, but it also incentivizes the theft of your real ID by bad actors 10 times more than before, because the rewards for getting your ID to create false accounts become even more valuable. Which makes the incientive to steal your identity even more valuable to a larger number of bad parties, including foreign ones, than before, and creates vulnerable digital points that make it easier to attack.
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ControlAltRestrain 12 hr ago -6
You're critiquing a system that is not in place. Your concerns are valid, but there are many different ways to verify someones age than uploading ID or having a government digital ID. I live in Australia where this is implemented and I had to verify my age through face recognition. I have never been asked to submit any ID, or fill in any extra personal information. I understand that this system is very flawed, so a suggestion that Jonathan Haidt (the person that started all of this) outlines is a 3rd party app that verifies your ID and confirms it with the app youre trying to access without storing any personal information. which prevents any hacks, leaks, digital ID, government control, or social media platforms having your ID.
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NumeralJoker 12 hr ago +6
I live in Trump's America right now. I'm not taking that chance of a 3rd party somehow being ethical here, thank you very much.
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ControlAltRestrain 12 hr ago -6
Okay, lets say this 3rd party did provide the government with all your internet activity.. What exactly are they doing to do with this information to "control" you? I have never understood this point, unless you're already on the governments radar for whatever reasons, or that you live in a country where criticism of the government / politicians can result in imprisonment or death.. what exactly are you so fearful of?
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girl4life 11 hr ago +5
the control is in the targeted information you receive, the adds , your recommendations in YT and other social media. they try to change how you think. and they don't need much they only have to sow doubt so you stay inactive longer or let some stuff slide because you are unsure if its true or not. that gives "Them" a lot of leeway to pull the wool over our head. and allow then to abuse the general population some more, all for the benefit of wealth and power. it's not direct control, it's manipulation by modifying the narrative. the bot's are ment to keep the status quo, how many times you have read comments next to some outragous piece of news and in the comments where a bickering between the users that you though , yeah so what, and went to the next news item.
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ControlAltRestrain 11 hr ago
Cute that you think they need your personal information to influence your algorithm
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Sanguiniusius 14 hr ago +2
While im not disagreeing about your skepticism of this solution- corporations have a gigantic degree of control over us by drawing us into their addiction propaganda loop. I have no doubt they will be spending money to try and propagate the view you are expressing to ensure they keep their stranglehold.
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Thukkan 13 hr ago +6
Actually it's quite the opposite. Social media platforms are chomping at the bit to gather more data as well as more solidly build groups of user profiles for targeted ads. Children and teens don't have money, they can be advertised to for brand loyalty, but adults/18+ are the ones with money. They can guarantee that all clicks or views to one of their advertisers can now guaranteed be an adult with jobs and can further target. This is the worst possible way to handle a serious problem. We do not need government stepping into our lives and empowering social platforms to more intrusively gather our data.
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Sanguiniusius 13 hr ago -3
They can implement verification and ban under 16s without the need for government to tell them so if they are incentivised to do so. They dont seem to be doing that though.
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Thukkan 13 hr ago +4
Did you see the violent pushback against discord when it voluntarily started rolling that out? Government forcing platforms to age verify gives all of em an excuse of "well they are making us now". There is no incentive for us to have the government step in like this when it does nothing for us. Its a solution looking for a problem at best.
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Sanguiniusius 12 hr ago
They were complying with regulations that were already in place or about to come into force like osa or whatever the australian one was called. It wasnt voluntary they were reacting to an existng requirement to verify from governments that was already being pushed and would continue to be pushed because governments have recognised that developing minds ( and developed minds) get cooked by engagement profit driven social media.
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EnvironmentalChard16 15 hr ago -15
This seems like a bit of an overreaction. For one, Manitoba doesn't have an authoritarian gov, if they did how would minors having anonymity to voice dissent preclude any of that in a way that not having social media didn't do already? Social media isn't a prerequisite to political action.  If absolutely anything, this policy is a move towards attenuating social media's perceived monopoly on political discourse.
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Forikorder 15 hr ago +16
> if they did how would minors having anonymity to voice dissent preclude any of that in a way that not having social media didn't do already? its not about minors its about being able to track adults
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nermthewerm 14 hr ago -10
So, what, you’re upset because they want to make the tracking aspect transparent and purposeful? You can’t have a social media presence *currently* without being tracked. The government is actively using your digital footprint if they need to, aside from the fact that the free apps you sign up for are free because your personal data is being sold by them. If the government wanted to, they’d use your digital footprint anyways. What difference does this actually make for adults?
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Forikorder 14 hr ago +8
>You can’t have a social media presence currently without being tracked. Of course you can, VPNs and fake emails are free >What difference does this actually make for adults? More of your data being sold less ability to be anonymous The states got to where it is now because of decafes of small decisions that "made no difference" until they did
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nermthewerm 14 hr ago -6
VPNs aren’t impervious to government bypass. Additionally, I assume you also have zero social media accounts and no cellphone? Be serious, true anonymity in the digital age doesn’t exist unless you’re completely offline which you are not.
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NumeralJoker 13 hr ago +3
Giving over IDs still gives them extra power to enforce against people in ways that may have otherwise been too cumbersome or expensive to bother with. Investigations still have to happen and that's not always easy or practical without something like ID laws. IP addresses are difficult to prove and cross verify in actual courts of law. This protects people from legal harassment and intimidation in numerous ways. While IDs won't be fool proof in court either as evidence, they can be used as a means to embolden enforcement against basic speech and embolden harassment mechanisms for those who which to suppress certain groups. Every small barrier that protects our identities and allows for even the slightest bit of plausible deniability is a way to protect us from potentially disastrous invasions of privacy, else people wouldn't be using nicknames here on listnook and would post with their real name. The chilling effect of handing over my ID for every account is very real and would stifle my activism, personally speaking. I speak openly on listnook because I can still at least somewhat disconnect what I say here from my real life and minimize the conflict speaking up on topics cause. It doesn't leak back to my job or future companies as easily, no matter how reasonable what I say might be to most, that could be a problem if the wrong person in a position of authority disagrees with my political views. That doesn't mean I don't consider my speech here important, but without that form of anonymity, I don't speak up against forms of government nearly as aggressively under accounts with my real name as I do here. Sure, that anonymity can of course lead to abuses and problems, but it's also an important tool for good causes too. And stopping it only does limited things to stop abuses and bad influences as well. I think people are overestimating how dangerous social media is for a 15 year old compared to an 18 year old, which is to say they're both still very risky if you don't teach proper use to either, which ID laws won't solve basically at all. If you're so keen on defending this, why don't you make your comments public (mine are) and change your listnook name to your real name too? That's the crux of the issue. Any listnookor who defends this policy without making all their own info public is a total idiot and the stupidest kind of hypocrite, frankly.
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jardex22 15 hr ago +5
I work part time retail on the weekends, and frankly, it's scary how everyone started asking for Needohs all at once. It almost feels like a coordinated campaign that Tiktok set up by pushing relevant content. At this point they're just using that kind of power to sell junk to preteens that are easily manipulated by peer pressure and FOMO, but it could get so much worse. Imagine if they pushed a hip new trend called, "The Light Socket Challenge", but only to youth in specific areas.
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Forikorder 15 hr ago +9
> it's scary how everyone started asking for Needohs all at once. people have been chasing trends like that for centuries
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Spirited_Beyond8120 14 hr ago +2
How about the “67” phenomena? Scary how overnight this trend spread.
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Forikorder 15 hr ago +4
show me the science
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EnvironmentalChard16 15 hr ago +3
Sure. Brain Development: https://www.unc.edu/posts/2023/01/03/study-shows-habitual-checking-of-social-media-may-impact-young-adolescents-brain-development/; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-63566-y and; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK594763/ Cognitive Functioning (Attention, Memory, Executive Function): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12887-025-06041-5 and; https://healthmatters.nyp.org/how-social-media-use-affects-adolescent-brain-development/ Mental Health & Emotional Regulation: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-advisory.pdf; https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-advisory.pdf and; https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/social-media-and-mental-health-in-children-and-teens Early Childhood & ASD-Related Findings: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12165459/ Let me know if you have any questions ;)
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Ren_Davis0531 15 hr ago +6
Personally, I didn’t see anything in there that was conclusive. It seems to be the prevailing takeaway was that more data was needed. Not enough to suggest that social media is as harmful as what most people claim. Especially considering the first source also lumped in videogames and screen usage in general with social media. Can social media be harmful? Yeah. But I think the reasons why are more nuanced. I don’t think it’s harmful because of some magical property unique to social media. I think it can be harmful for similar reasons that any form of socialization can be harmful. The peer pressure, the social rewards and punishments, the propaganda, etc. All of that is baked into the very DNA of socialization. And I would also propose that phenomena such as anxiety and depression are much more on the rise due to economic pressures and fears about the future due to vast wealth inequality. Social media is relatively new, and because of that I think it’s just being treated as the new scapegoat instead of any real solutions. I agree with u/Forikorder
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Forikorder 15 hr ago +10
> Brain Development: https://www.unc.edu/posts/2023/01/03/study-shows-habitual-checking-of-social-media-may-impact-young-adolescents-brain-development/; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-63566-y and; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK594763/ "may" "possible" "first findings" all of them avoid direct and conclusive terms >However, high social media usage was associated with a statistically significant change in the developmental trajectory of cerebellum volumes, and the accumulated effect of high-vs-low social media users on cerebellum volumes over 4 years was only β = − 0.03, which was considered insignificant. so nothing conclusive in any form at most the studies claim that they found enough to warrant further investigation but nothing in any of them show any definits ive seen studies just like those for decades about whatever the latest "boogeyman" is ruining our youths
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EnvironmentalChard16 14 hr ago +5
The field has strong, consistent associations, but no study has met the bar for conclusive causal proof. That's partly a methodological ceilin, you can't ethically randomize children into heavy social media use for years. But to draw the conclusion that this suggests there is no har or that concern is unwarranted is ridiculous, especially when there is ample justification to attenuate so much power concentration in the hands of ever fewer corporate hands with perverse incentives.
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Forikorder 14 hr ago +3
> But to draw the conclusion that this suggests there is no har or that concern is unwarranted is ridiculous again, ive seen this whole thing play out a half dozen times already and it doesnt take long before people forget it ever happened and move on to some new boogeyman >especially when there is ample justification to attenuate so much power concentration in the hands of ever fewer corporate hands with perverse incentives. thats a seperate conversation and in line with my original point, we need to be regulating the technology itself not who is exposed to it
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FlakeyBeano 9 hr ago +1
Show me the parents.
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CityOutlier 13 hr ago +5
Thought the same. We have some old people out there falling for ridiculous romance scams and other propaganda
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Slight-Discount420 12 hr ago +2
"Some"? It's hundreds of millions adults!
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drivingagermanwhip 13 hr ago +3
they could start by not systematically promoting it
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splepage 12 hr ago +3
Here's the problem: big tech companies have lobbyists. Kids and teens don't.
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corticalization 10 hr ago +1
Sure, but that’s never what these are about anyway. By putting age restrictions they can then force identification to confirm age for use. It’s just to collect more personal data Also then becomes the slippery slope into monitoring the content also under the guise of protecting children, but really it’s just for data and surveillance(eg, see chat control proposal in EU)
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wsippel 11 hr ago +2
Who's supposed to be the arbiter of truth to crack down on misinformation? Who watches the watchmen? It's not just a slippery slope, it's insanely dangerous.
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testthrowawayzz 10 hr ago +1
Easiest way is to start forcing chronological feeds of accounts they follow/are friends with only
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Sea_Action5814 10 hr ago +1
People want a sense of control without having to executive self control.
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Informal-Fig-6827 17 hr ago +104
How is this any different than the box that we all check "yes I'm over 18"?
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gigglesmage69 16 hr ago +71
Because that’s literally not how this works. Many countries are moving to an app that requires you to upload a passport or ID that will then allow you access to the website. It’s not a simple checkbox
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Superseaslug 13 hr ago +22
Which is great until their servers get hacked and now someone opens a bank account in my name
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undergirltemmie 11 hr ago +13
Well no. It's not even great before that as it doesn't protect children properly either, rather it will usually make them go onto worse sites. To protect children you need educated, attentive parents with free time. All of which the elite hates. So yeah. Surveilance state! Heck yeah.
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728766 15 hr ago -30
“It’s just a government tool to get your data!” is such a weird argument against it too. Like the government doesn’t already have your ID?
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drthrax1 15 hr ago +53
Yea they have my ID but they haven't connected my ID to my digital fingerprint, they don't know I go to Backdoorsluts9AI.com, now they are creating a system where they can connect people to their behaviors and online actions explicitly. With something like chat AI now they are connecting my ID to "private" "conversations". Like if you add this to adult sites your creating a list of peoples ID that like X f***** or orientation. and then you just have to hope this black box that you enter private info into doesn't abuse/disseminate that info
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Ren_Davis0531 15 hr ago +6
>Backdoorsluts9 Backdoor S**** 9 🤯🤯🤯
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BurntNeurons 14 hr ago +3
*"Give us back the Precious"* * Butters
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Affectionate-Egg7566 15 hr ago +15
Which is why we need to use RFID (already exists in many passports) to answer the question "is above 18" or equivalent, without exfiltrating any other data. That should be sufficient.
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CompetitiveAutorun 11 hr ago +1
You know there are ways to confirm you are adult and only that? No other info.
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Xygnux 14 hr ago +11
The point is that the government now knows that you are watching p***. And what's more some hackers can access what you watch, and unlike before you can't say "it's not me" if they expose you, because it's literally connected to your real name.
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Biengineerd 13 hr ago +5
Also the very creepy coupling with AI software that can scrape every single comment you make, article you read, or video you watch and create a profile on what type of citizen you are. Then flock cameras can track where you are and merge that data... Big Brother wished he were this effective
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baconmashwbrownsugar 15 hr ago +33
It turns into adults having to provide real ID to use social media
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Informal-Fig-6827 13 hr ago -15
Then don't use social media... Or use a vpn
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demonarc 12 hr ago +8
The next step is banning VPNs.
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Ok_Net_5771 9 hr ago +1
It is literally impossible to ban VPNs, its just how computers work, corporate VPNs make too much money to be banned anyways
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EnvironmentalChard16 16 hr ago +11
The behavioural design of pushing under age social media use into the shadows is not a totally ineffectual barrier and social media lacks the same urgent biological draw that p********** weilds. Many accounts will be lost in the initial cull, fewer will reactivate under falsified age credentials and the more and more barriers imposed the fewer users and the fewer users the diminishing draw of use. 
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ThePickleConnoisseur 14 hr ago +17
They should criminalize bad data security. Can’t wait until a year or two when all the data is leaked of every citizen and their socials in one nice database and nothing happens
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ThreadCountHigh 17 hr ago +121
So, this is just getting out ahead of Bill S-210 (Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to P********** Act): "This proposed legislation aims to make it a criminal offence for commercial organizations to allow minors to access online pornographic material." Symbolic legislation where the real goal is creating surveillance infrastructure. Also: Dear parents, raise your f****** kids yourself, don't let the government do it.
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dysbot3030 14 hr ago +15
> Dear parents, raise your f****** kids yourself, don't let the government do it. ya, unfortunately we all wind up suffering because of shittiest members of our society can't be bothered. "just raise your kids" is some magical thinking – what do we do when our neighbours don't?
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ThreadCountHigh 14 hr ago +7
The actual answer to "what do we do when our neighbors don't" is this: Their kids will be worse off than yours. That's it. That's the answer. It's bleak but it's true. Government policy can't substitute for parental engagement; it can only build new infrastructure with its own consequences while leaving the underlying problem untouched. The shittiest members of society are still going to be shitty after the law passes. Their kids are still going to be on a phone (that their parents likely gave them), just via VPN or sibling's account or face-scan-bypass. Meanwhile, everyone's ID *will* be leaked at some point.
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CompetitiveAutorun 11 hr ago
But government does substitute for parental engagement, that's what school is. Many other form of support also exists like cps. I want to take some action instead of saying "it suck but nothing can be done and we won't sacrifice anything for others"
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Bizarrebazaars 10 hr ago +1
“Dear parents, raise your f****** kids yourself” They can’t. They’re just as addicted to social media and doomscrolling too, so they’d be total hypocrites talking with their own children about media literacy, managing screen time, etc. 
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GhaspyGillow 16 hr ago -8
Exactly this. I'm grateful to have had access to p*** when i was 13. Being able to free myself of needless inner demons and sexual bigotry groomed into me by religious abuse & exploitation has been freeing. Sexual liberation of the mind brings inner peace of the soul/self. It would be hypocritical of me to rob the younger generation of freedoms our generations had. Puberty need not be confusing with p*** and proper Sex Ed. It's beneficial to teens; regardless of what the religious and/or sexist, misandrous "feminist" funded statistics say. For 30+ years, teens enjoyed internet p***. It wasn't the end of the world, an overwhelming majority of them turned out fine. We don't eliminate freedom because a possibility or guarantee of bad may come from something good. It'll only leave us with nothing good. There's no excuse for parents to not know how to put a password on their router & family PC, or to change their DNS to block p*** & social media. They care more about not getting charged with child neglect, or being seen as a bad parent, than they care about defending a free country. People have already succumbed to Orwellian self-censorship before these anti-privacy Real ID laws. This will erode free speech & expression even more without privacy and anonymity. Liberty first. Make free countries free again. Get these liberty raping politicians out of government.
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Naive_Regular8035 15 hr ago +11
Your sexual liberation depends on the sexual exploitation of teenagers in p**********?
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PreeningandPruining 15 hr ago +5
Hold up, do you also think I should have the freedom to get an abortion?
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baelrog 14 hr ago +15
Maybe I’m cynical, but whenever someone says “Think of the children.” I immediately grow suspicious of what they’re hiding.
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ControlAltRestrain 12 hr ago -9
Maybe I’m cynical, but whenever someone says “They’re watching everything you do online” I immediately grow suspicious of what they’re hiding.
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gigglesmage69 10 hr ago +1
Oh f*** off. Most people don’t want to upload a passport to some app just to access social media while risking their data getting leaked to hackers
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ControlAltRestrain 9 hr ago +1
...that is not how any apps are verifying people's ID.
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EmbarrassedHelp 16 hr ago +69
These bans almost always require age verification to enforce these restrictions. This means mandatory age verification and age assurance for all Canadians if it becomes law. Mandatory age verification in unacceptable as there is no such thing as privacy protecting or anonymous age verification. Canadians deserve more privacy online, not less. I would recommend emailing your province/territory's premier, your, MP, Marc Miller (Heritage Minister and responsible for the upcoming online harms legislation), along with other Liberal Cabinet Ministers & party members, and explicitly tell them to reject mandatory age verification and age assurance at the provincial and federal levels. --- Please take the time to demand that the both the provincial and federal governments refrain from doing anything that would require mandatory age verification and age assurance, by messaging the premier of Mantoba, Wab Kinew. * Wab Kinew's email is: premier@manitoba.ca The article also mentions: * Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston: premier@novascotia.ca * Québec Premier Christine Fréchette: premierministre@quebec.ca * Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe: premier@gov.sk.ca I would also recommend emailing following Cabinet ministers to help prevent this at the federal level: * Marc Miller (Heritage Minister, the minister responsible for the upcoming online harms legislation): Marc.Miller@parl.gc.ca * Sean Fraser (Justice Minister): sean.fraser@parl.gc.ca * Mark Carney (Prime Minister): mark.carney@parl.gc.ca * Mélanie Joly (Minister of Industry): melanie.joly@parl.gc.ca * Evan Solomon (Minister of Digital Innovation): evan.solomon@parl.gc.ca You can find the contact info for other Liberal party members here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en --- You don't need to write a long message unless you really want to. Even a simple message like this can do the job (feel free to use and modify this example): > Subject: Protect Canadians’ Privacy: Oppose Social Media Bans That Require Age Verification > Dear [Premier/Minister Name], > I am writing to urge you to reject any legislative proposals, including youth social media bans and restrictions on AI systems, that would require online services to implement mandatory age verification or age assurance measures. > Such systems pose unacceptable risks to Canadians’ privacy and data security. Requiring individuals to verify their identity or age to access lawful online content creates new opportunities for data breaches, surveillance, and misuse of sensitive personal information. Canadians deserve stronger privacy protections online, not less. > I am also concerned by reports that the government may seek to copy Australia’s approach. Australia's approach is not appropriate for Canada and should not be used as a precedent for policymaking here. > Sincerely, > [Your Name] > [City], [Province] If you want to cite expert opinion in your message, you can use the letter signed by over 371 experts from here that is against any form of age verification: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/dangerous-socially-unacceptable-experts-warn-153314818.html
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EmbarrassedHelp 16 hr ago +19
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew's email is: premier@manitoba.ca The article also mentions: * Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston: premier@novascotia.ca * Québec Premier Christine Fréchette: premierministre@quebec.ca * Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe: premier@gov.sk.ca
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OnlyCommentWhenTipsy 17 hr ago +28
The only way to stop children is to force adults to identify themselves. When government ID becomes useless due to data leaks and identify theft, the next step is biometric digital id.
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Not-So-Logitech 16 hr ago +27
With the ease at which this sort of shit is bypassed, if you think even for one second this is about protecting kids, you're part of the problem. 
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chaser676 15 hr ago +3
>With the ease at which this sort of shit is bypassed, Social media only works with significant gravity effect. Placing even a small barrier in front of it can destroy it.
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EnvironmentalChard16 16 hr ago +2
Can you explain the bit about me being part of the problem? This is not a panacea, but it's not ineffectual. It's not about ease of bypass, it's about raising barriers to use, and those have to start somewhere. I think you might be over estimating social media's draw. I think you might be overreacting.
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AnemoneMeer 13 hr ago +6
Not OP, but let me give you a simple enough example. I'm canadian, but I do a fair amount of google searches in other languages due to hobbies of mine. Gaming related hobbies. And when I do so, I don't simply get ads for what languages I searched in, but for what they think I am. I get ads for being a newcomer to canada from banks. I get ads for websites trying to convince me they're the best way to send money to my overseas family (that doesn't exist, because I'm not). I do a fair bit of gaming, but I have youtube set to not show me gambling ads (otherwise literally all of them will be gambling ads), so instead I get a deluge of child-targeted ads adversiting gambling sites without directly saying they are gambling sites. They dress them up to make it look like they're flash game sites (if you remember those). This is the effort they make to target advertising towards someone just off the back of a few google searches, expressly bypassing filters and requests to do so. This isn't social media. This is just google searches. --------------------------------- Now, imagine if you will what happens if they have my personal identity to make these targeted advertisements with. What happens if they know they have a child on the other side of the screen. We already know from saturday morning cartoon block advertisements. They're already dressing up gambling sites as if they were flash game sites from ages past. Or turning whatever social media brainrot is going around into gambling sites. You get an unverified account looking up roblox game wikis, and you had better believe there's going to be an absolute gold rush to dress up every ad going to that page with as many ways to abuse child psychology for profit as possible. Because if you know every instance that is an adult, it becomes very easy to pinpoint which logins are children by process of elimination. We already have gambling sites using filter bypass techniques to advertise to children without being flagged. They already crop up faster than you can kill them. If they can pinpoint who is an adult, that just makes it easier to sell to kids. So you have created a big database of people's personal information just waiting for the next data breach, while simultaneously identifying potential children by process of elimination.
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FlamingoEarringo 17 hr ago +35
Ah they want to monitor you
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[deleted] 16 hr ago -1
[deleted]
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LandMooseReject 16 hr ago +3
Yet you participate in society. Curious!
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DarkSociety1033 17 hr ago +17
Trading freedom for security.
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Remnare 13 hr ago +3
They don't care. If they cared, they'd have banned social media websites entirely over a decade ago which would bypass the need trample all over everyone's privacy rights. This poor excuse to expand surveillance state doesn't remotely fly and they should be ashamed using such a transparent lie to try to get it done.
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SpiroG 11 hr ago +3
And the app will be under the sole ownership of the government, yes? And they will handle all the data themselves, and the security, and employ a department of devs and QA and secops on government payroll, riiiight? They won't just use some 3rd party "app" and give away all our info to some company that "won" the implementation by submitting the lowest price for an "app".... RIIIGHT? Oh wait, nope. Of course not. And it will all get leaked, and we'll all have surprise debt overnight and be withdrawing thousands in Botswana...
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Pure_Restaurant8459 11 hr ago +3
The people saying that the kids will find a way around this don't realize that these kids have grown up in a world where they don't have to figure shit out. They turn on their phone, download an app, and shit just works. Every time. The first barrier they come across, they'll give up.
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LoadedFile 10 hr ago +1
No, they'll use the path of least resistance. Block it off and someone will make a workaround which will become the new path of least resistance. There will be kids and teenagers who are tenacious and/or reckless and if you block the safe path, there will be someone advertising a more sketchy one
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poppin-n-sailin 15 hr ago +11
Now the end truly begins. farewell, freedoms I grew up enjoying. RIP.  Edit: this is not a win like so many foolish fools think it is. 
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[deleted] 15 hr ago -1
[deleted]
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Astryline 14 hr ago +3
"Uploading your ID to databases tracking you = seatbelts" It might be a mental health benefit to yourself if you learned to actually think before talking.
3
[deleted] 14 hr ago
[deleted]
0
Astryline 14 hr ago +2
Ah, stupid and confident about it. Well, I will be heeding the advice about arguing with fools and not bother.
2
RentAscout 16 hr ago +15
Ban social media for adults, it's done even more damage.
15
philmarcracken 15 hr ago +3
dont need more bans. just more fine tune filters exposed to end users. like shutting up endless ragebait, i'd pay for that filter
3
dysbot3030 14 hr ago +2
i don't know why we at least aren't considering warnings before you open an app. we have them on cigarettes and movies etc
2
poppin-n-sailin 15 hr ago +4
Ya control all speech, and start a throught police department as well. 
4
LowBornArcher 15 hr ago
can't stop my fiddlin...just take my ritalin...i'm poppin, and sailin, man
0
deeznutz133769 14 hr ago +1
So just don't let people talk to each other online? That sounds healthy. At what point do you not just realize that you're worse than the tyranny you're supposedly trying to prevent?
1
DrunkenGolfer 16 hr ago +11
Do we really need this much government intrusion in our lives? I’ve created an AI chatbot that is a socratic tutor for my son in his IB studies. He’s learned more from that than he has in his classes or from his teachers. AI chatbots aren’t just for creating images of Rastafarian monkeys telling jokes.
11
EclaireBallad 15 hr ago +1
Canada voted for govern me harder daddy
1
bjbigplayer 14 hr ago +3
They will continue to use Social Media or just go back to chat and text circles. Parents need to take responsibility and give their kids flip phones if they want to keep them off of Bookface and XTweet.
3
skullofregress 13 hr ago +5
I remember millennials having an edge through the early 00's because older generations were so slow to adapt to Internet and computers. AI isn't going away. It seems bizarre to me to set up roadblocks to using it effectively. Social media on the other hand I'm on board with. The most popular platforms are designed to be addictive, are  extremely vulnerable to scams and misinformation campaigns from extremists and hostile intelligence services. And the owners of those platforms have no apparent interest in patching those vulnerabilities.
5
ShortStoryIntros 17 hr ago +8
Kids will find a way, just like you and me did at that age. If they want to ban social media and AI for everyone. I'm down for that... but that's not really what they're after with this Bill, is it? ;)
8
toorudez 17 hr ago +6
So use a VPN in Toronto?
6
EmbarrassedHelp 16 hr ago +11
VPNs will be on the chopping block next if they are able to pass mandatory age verification requirements. Both Australia and the UK are currently working on targeting VPNs as we speak.
11
DannyDOH 15 hr ago +4
Yet doing nothing to take on the companies reaping all the benefits of poisoning society.
4
p_2923 13 hr ago +2
Yep, this is a slippery slope....
2
BurntReign 10 hr ago +2
I’ve had enough of these youth bans online. There’s an issue and it’s not just related to youths. Deal with social media platforms and AI in general. They should hold more responsibility for their actions then they are currently.
2
Long-Island-Iced-Tea 10 hr ago +1
Wow kanada so kul
1
UnordinaryFlyGirl 17 hr ago +7
Look, kids should not be on social media or using AI, but this isn't ever going to work. A VPN is the easiest thing to setup in the world.
7
RentAscout 16 hr ago +5
Kids will easily find something new without using a VPN. When Napster hit news, kids I knew already moved onto other platforms. Kids will adapt faster than any government can. Ban social media for adults, it's done even more damage.
5
gigglesmage69 16 hr ago +5
Just read the article for f*** sakes. Europe is moving to an app that will verify your age with an ID or passport before you can access certain websites. There’s no VPN that gets around that, and that is why people are worried.
5
UnordinaryFlyGirl 16 hr ago +9
Lol any app that implements age verification is gonna lose me as a user
9
gigglesmage69 16 hr ago +7
It’s going to be every social media website. That’s the whole point of the law. People aren’t nearly concerned enough about this. Why can’t people just parent Their kids
7
DannyDOH 15 hr ago +3
That's exactly what a VPN gets around. Also, [https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-brussels-launched-age-checking-app-hackers-say-took-them-2-minutes-break-it/](https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-brussels-launched-age-checking-app-hackers-say-took-them-2-minutes-break-it/)
3
Farlake 9 hr ago +1
Of course it does, as soon as it detects you not being in Europe (what the VPN does) then they are no longer obligated to verify your ID. That's when the VPN ban will come, which should be worrying people a lot more than it does.
1
Firm-Yoghurt6033 16 hr ago +3
for a kid though? for a 8 year old on an ipad?
3
aPOPblops 15 hr ago +5
Banning the youth from anything will never fix the youth. When will people understand this.  (Concepts, not substances)
5
Leading_Pay4635 15 hr ago +2
Feels like this shouldn’t be at the top of the todo list. Also an infringement of people’s freedoms and privacy.
2
SodenHack69 13 hr ago +2
Why we cheering for internet censorship
2
shesaflightrisk 11 hr ago +2
The government could address all of the issues with social media by regulating social media companies the same way they regulate cigarette and alcohol companies.
2
314159Man 10 hr ago +1
funny how AI can steal your job, your creative output, but it cant keep your kids from being groomed or people from having abusive material served to them.
1
skrat777 13 hr ago +1
Honestly I’m 37 and can they ban it for me too. I’ve had Instagram and TikTok deleted from my phone for 1 week and my brain feels better and I’ve actually made plans with friends.
1
BaronessVonKush 12 hr ago +1
GOOD!, shit is fuckin brain rot on steroids. That being said, HOW are they going to do it, cause that could be a big problem for everyone else if they decide to try & do some bs age verification system that requires us all to give retina scans or upload our ID online to even access the internet / social media.
1
Deervember 17 hr ago -4
Good for him, Ai chatbots are useless anyway. Consumer Ai is complete c***. 
-4
Mana_Seeker 17 hr ago +11
The tool is only as good as its user
11
nawicav 15 hr ago +5
I think this says more about you than AI.
5
Brief_Hospital_1766 14 hr ago
Does Canada have a FOX News equivalent? Is there a network of super-popular Canadian fascist podcasters like Joe Rogan or Tim Pool, etc.?
0
gaymerkyle 12 hr ago +3
it's not required the amount people i know that consume American politics daily already impacts their mental health now imagine teens who don't have the wherewithal to understand how Canadian politics work then they act and think like Americans instead
3
forgot-my-toothbrush 15 hr ago -1
Can you ban it for everyone? And also annex Ontario. PLEASE.
-1
Astronius-Maximus 10 hr ago +1
Possibly controversial point (and ignoring AI for the moment): Social media isn't the problem; the predatory design of social platforms and lack of care to police misinformation is. If social media wasn't designed to keep attention, turn profits, and spread lies, then it wouldn't be addictive or problematic (at least not as much as is it currently). I *do* see the merits of keeping young kids off of it, though, since they should be spending their childhood socializing with actual people in front of them to make friends, learn to read faces, learn to talk to people, etc.
1
Hungry_Shake6943 16 hr ago -3
It's probably a good idea. Not sure if it should be on the govt's shoulders though
-3
Humble_Seaweed_2344 13 hr ago -1
Good job Swab Canoe
-1
Adept_Musician_530 17 hr ago -8
Even a penny over 5 mil...solitary life in prison (ideally just a ditch, to rot in). Don't get close to the threshold or you're ousted from society ideally, exceeding it should be fine only if you distribute the excess back into society. The number realistically if we fixed things should probably be much lower. A stupid windfall under 80k set my ass up for almost life...if I keep up on my property taxes. Fed taxes are a nightmare, and I pay in max always to be safe...they're still fucked up due a typo and the insanity that is a system designed to f*** me I think. OH well, dip your pitchforks in shit friends.
-8
Adventurous_Web_7961 14 hr ago -3
Its only a matter of time before the internet becomes gated. Foreign propaganda bots spreading misinformation and creating conflict, p*** and prostitution everywhere. . I don't understand how people believe they are not already under a surveillance state. . your IP provider knows who you are. . the govt has access to your IP provider.
-3
Spainiswhite 17 hr ago -18
this is great for the 37 people in Manitoba
-18
nermthewerm 17 hr ago +7
You’re right, it is fantastic for the 5th most populated province or territory out of 13.
7
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