Mark Carney’s Liberal government says they want to ban social media use for minors under the age of 16. And if they go through with it, it could have huge impacts on queer and trans people across Canada.
At their convention last weekend, Liberal Party members passed a policy resolution that calls for a law similar to one introduced in Australia last year that would set a minimum age of 16 for creating social media accounts in Canada, and puts the onus on social media platforms to police who can create accounts.
The idea behind the policy is well intentioned: party members said they want to protect kids online from all of the harms and garbage that social media platforms present—and let’s be real, they present a lot of harms to young people. And the policy has widespread public support—75 percent of Canadians polled by Angus Reid said they supported a social media ban for users under the age of 16. An open letter to the prime minister in support of the ban was also signed by groups including the Canadian Medical Association, the B.C. Pediatric Society and the Ontario Psychiatric Association.
But the policy could pose new problems for trans people accessing information online.
We break down how the process of age verification comes with a lot of caveats for LGBTQ2S+ Canadians.
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