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Dear Minister Calandra,
I am writing to ask you to take stronger action to protect children and youth from the harms of social media.
We recently met with members of Unplugged Canada, a volunteer parent movement representing more than 9,800 parents and 1,000 schools across Canada. Their campaign to raise the minimum social media age to 16 has broad public support, including support from the Canadian Medical Association, the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, and thousands of petition signers across the country. This month, the federal government introduced the Safe Social Media Act (Bill C-34), which if passed would ban social media accounts for children under 16 in Canada.
Young people have become increasingly dependent on social media. Research has shown that excessive use of social media can contribute to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, sleep deprivation, self-harm, and addictive behaviours among children and teenagers[1].
This call for action comes as several Ontario school boards continue to pursue legal action against social media companies, and as countries like Australia move ahead with restrictions on social media access for children under 16.
While we support the government’s school cellphone restrictions, concerns remain about implementation, enforcement, and the broader impacts of excessive social media use on children and youth.
Ontario’s Official Opposition, the NDP, has been calling for stronger protections for children and youth online. Last June, MPP Catherine Fife introduced a motion calling for the Standing Committee on Social Policy to commission a report that would investigate the harm of social media on youth and propose recommendations for further action. These recommendations could include:
- Review the addictive nature of social media platforms for under-18s, including curated algorithms, surveillance capitalism, infinite scroll, and frequent notifications;
- Clarify the responsibilities of social media companies regarding the moderation of use by youth under 13; and
- Require Ontario Public Health Units to implement health warnings on social media platforms about the risks of excessive social media use by youth.
Ontario has an opportunity to be a leader in protecting children and youth from the harms associated with excessive social media use.
We look forward to your response and to working collaboratively with you to protect Ontario’s children.
Sincerely,
MPP Jessica Bell (University-Rosedale), Leader of the Official Opposition MPP Marit Stiles (Davenport), MPP Catherine Fife (Waterloo), MPP Chandra Pasma (Ottawa-West Nepean)