On June 10, the Federal government introduced Bill C-34, which would enact the Digital Safety Act (DSA) and the accompanying Digital Safety Commission of Canada Act.
Please see this Osler Update for a detailed review of the proposed statutory framework, prepared by members of Osler's National Privacy and Data Management team.
The DSA would create broader safety-focused obligations for operators of "social media services", "chatbot services", and other "online services" than in previous iterations of proposed online harms legislation – in particular, a duty to protect children, including through safety-by-design features and age measures for pornographic content, and a duty to be transparent through detailed compliance record-keeping.
Operators of "social media services" would have additional duties, including to use age verification or estimation measures designed to prevent children under the age of 16 from having social media accounts.
DSA obligations would be backed up by the proposed Digital Safety Commission's significant investigation and enforcement powers, including potential fines and penalties of up to $20 million or 5% of gross global revenue.
Join us for our upcoming Monthly Privacy Call on June 17th, which will focus on the DSA and other legislative commitments in the Federal government's recently released AI strategy.
