Provinces eye youth social media bans as federal government weighs action

TORONTO — Provincial governments across Canada are looking at tighter restrictions for youth on social media, artificial intelligence chatbots, and cellphone use in schools amid growing concerns over their impact on young people.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew’s government recently announced that it plans to ban children from using social media accounts and AI chatbots, starting in classrooms. While the details are so far unclear, the idea appears to have support from several other governments.

Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra said Tuesday that he is looking not only at a social media ban, but also a near-total ban on cellphones at school.

“I think the evidence is becoming more and more clear that cellphone use in our schools, elementary and our secondary schools, anywhere on site, has become a problem, so we are considering an outright ban of cellphones on school properties across the province of Ontario,” Calandra said, adding there would be medical exemptions.

Ontario will be working closely with the federal government on a social media ban for kids under a certain age, he said.

“I think most ministers of education are in agreement that it’s not healthy for our kids in our schools to have access,” Calandra said.

British Columbia Attorney General Niki Sharma said Tuesday that a mass shooting at a school in Tumbler Ridge earlier this year gave a tragic example of harms that can come from chatbots, as the shooter had worrisome interactions with ChatGPT ahead of the killings.

Parents all around the world have seen the harms that can emerge from social media too, she said.

“We also have sexploitation leading to suicide,” Sharma said.

“We have (a) rise in eating disorders and anxiety. Clearly, self regulation is not working. We can’t have these companies that control a lot of the wealth in the world also deciding what’s safe or unsafe for our children and our vulnerable people in our society. That’s government’s job, to step in and set a standard to make sure that people are safe.”

In December, Australia became the first country to create a law enforcing age limits on social media accounts, and it introduced fines for companies found non-compliant.

Federal Culture Minister Marc Miller has said the government is seriously considering a similar law.

The federal government is in the best position to enact such a ban, Sharma said Tuesday, but if it does not act in a timely fashion, B.C. is prepared to go it alone, or perhaps participate in an “alliance” among provinces to take action.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2026.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press