Survey on Canadians' Preference for Social Media Age Verification Policies

Résumé analytique

In May 2026, ahead of the government's introduction of Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, the Media Ecosystem Observatory fielded a national survey of 1,306 Canadians on how children should be protected online. C-34 establishes a framework to regulate social media platforms and AI chatbot services, but specific design-focused provisions — app features, age verification, and compliance mechanisms — remain largely undefined. This brief asks what Canadians themselves want from this framework, and where their preferences are settled, divided, or uncertain.

Support for government regulation is strongest for measures that place responsibility on platforms rather than users: age-appropriate design codes (84%), strengthened legal liability (82%), and an independent regulator with the power to fine (72%). Canadians want much the same for AI chatbots, where 83% ask for the same or similar rules. On age limits, the public backs restrictions without insisting on an outright ban: a full ban on under-age users draws 76% support, and so does a temporary moratorium suspending children's access until a platform can show its product is safe.

Canadians want design change, not just restriction, supporting limits on contact with strangers (74%), data collection (67%), commercial features (61%), personalized feeds (58%), and features built to maximize time on the app (57%). On age verification, opinion is scattered and one in five Canadians is unsure, though they tend to favour a government-run pass/fail check. Most think a ban would improve children's safety from online harms (69%) and their mental health (67%), while weighing immediate protection against longer-term costs to digital literacy and access to information.