Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Winnipeg North.
I rise today to speak about Bill C-34, the safe social media act.
One of the most important parts of my work is hearing directly from Pierrefonds—Dollard residents. Earlier this summer, I sat down with upwards of 200 residents during our annual coffee, cookies and conversation round tables. We spoke about many different things: the cost of living, the economy, the affordability crisis and the housing crisis, among many other things. We talked about the need for social media spaces to reflect the conduct we expect from one another in real life too. Residents told me that they want a safer social media environment. That is why our government has been working with stakeholders from across many different fields to make the digital world safer.
Let me spend a moment on that idea, because that is the heart of Bill C-34. In our communities, we all live by shared expectations and values. We expect neighbours to treat one another with respect. We expect that someone who harasses a person in public will be held to account. These are the basic standards of decency that bind our society and that promote harmony. These concepts are also part of what makes Canada great, but somewhere along the way, some began to think that the online world operates by different rules. That is what we are here today to address.
We need to be mindful that things that we would never tolerate on the streets should not become acceptable, but somehow that has been the case online. It should not be the case online or off-line. One's behaviour online should ideally be consistent with how we expect one to act in real life and how we would expect ourselves to act in real life. That is the principle behind Bill C-34. It does not ask for anything new of Canadians. It just asks that our behaviour be more consistent. It asks that the standards that we already hold apply across spaces.
I want to highlight the positive impacts that social media plays in our lives. The digital world gives us a sense of community and belonging. It is a powerful tool for sharing information. Many social justice movements and advocates utilize social media to share messages and raise awareness. This is critical, and we as parliamentarians utilize social media to share the good work we are doing within our constituencies and across this country. It is also utilized by our government to share the work that our government is doing: new trade deals, partnerships, new housing initiatives and the new ways we are building Canada strong.
The social media world is now part of our daily life too. In 2025, 95% of Canadian adults had at least one social media account. Many of us here have multiple social media accounts. However, the same platforms that connect us can also be used to harm us. They can spread hate, misinformation and even harassment, and for our children, the consequences can be grave and severe.
In 2024, police reported nearly 17,000 incidents involving online child sexual exploitation offences. That same year, police reported 368 incidents of sexual extortion involving victims 17 years of age or younger. In 2025, police reported over 3,000 incidents of non-consensual distribution of intimate images, and nearly 500 of those involved a victim who was 17 or younger. Behind each of these numbers is a child, a loved one, a family member and sometimes a life injured or even shattered.
We are also seeing serious and growing youth mental health concerns. In the past decade, depression has doubled and anxiety has quadrupled within the demographic of Canadians aged 15 to 24. These phenomena are not limited to this demographic, though. We cannot pretend that the online environment plays no role. Let me be clear. Children are not the only ones struggling with the challenges due to harmful online behaviour; adults are not immune to these phenomena.
As I mentioned earlier, we need to also recognize that digital platforms are designed to keep us engaged for long periods of time. Through features such as endless scrolling and personalized recommendations, we can spend hours on social media platforms. None of this happens by accident. These are choices made by people who build and operate these platforms. If the harm can be built in, the safety can be built in too.
Canadians gave us a mandate to protect, including in online spaces, and that is exactly what we would be doing through Bill C-34. We would be making sure that social media services and AI chatbots are safe by design. Just as we are encouraging responsible behaviour online, we should not expect platforms to play this role without legislation such as this. We need to engender and support a healthier online environment.
Bill C-34 has two main parts: enacting the digital safety act and enacting the digital safety commission act of Canada. The framework would focus on three core duties for social media services: the duty to act responsibly, the duty to protect children and the duty to make certain content inaccessible.
The safe social media act is essential and would be a timely step that is necessary to promote a safe-by-design social media environment. We are also asking social media and chatbot service operators to disclose the steps they are taking to protect users from harmful content. We are focusing only on serious harm. We are not looking to impact everyday content or conversations.
Under this bill, a new commission, the digital safety commission of Canada, will be established to regulate these services. It will consist of three to five full-time members to be appointed by the Governor in Council. The commission will be responsible for administering and enforcing the digital safety act.
Within three months after the end of each fiscal year, it must submit a report on its activities to the minister, who will table that report in Parliament. Our government recognizes that transparency is essential to advancing digital safety.
The commission will also be tasked with promoting digital safety in Canada. It will do so through research and education, in collaboration with experts and professionals. It will investigate complaints relating to content that sexually victimizes a child or revictimizes a survivor. It will also address intimate content communicated without consent and will ensure that operators of regulated services are transparent and accountable.
This summer, as I said earlier, I met with 200 residents of Pierrefonds—Dollard. We discussed many topics, including the importance of ensuring that social media is a space where everyone can feel respected. We know that a community is built on respect and on the way we treat each other. These values should not stop just because we are online. Interactions on social media are now part of our daily lives. We must be able to find the same respect there that we want to see in real life. That is the spirit behind this bill.
The work begins at the committee stage, where parliamentarians will be speaking to experts and stakeholders. I urge all members of the House to support this bill.