Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is skeptical that provinces can successfully block children from accessing social media, even as other premiers float age-based restrictions in their jurisdictions, and Moe’s own government sounds out voters on the issue.

“I’m not convinced that the provinces can do it effectively,” he said in an interview with The Logic. 

Moe’s government considered a Saskatchewan-only ban on children accessing social media, and in March announced plans to gauge what they think the government’s role should be in regulating kids’ access to platforms. But the province has since hit pause on the idea of a ban, and Moe said the surveys distributed to Saskatchewan families last month will inform the federal government’s approach to protecting kids online. 

The province decided to hold off on a ban after initial discussions about the concept opened up a regulatory can of worms, Moe told The Logic last week. 

“It’s one thing to say we’re just going to ban social media,” he said. “Well, at what age? Which platforms? Is it at school?” 

If other provinces come up with different answers to those questions, they could create a patchwork of rules across the country. 

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced in April that his government plans to age-gate platforms, likely starting in classrooms, but he hasn’t said how the measure will work, or at what age the province will set the cutoff. Ontario’s education minister has mused about doing the same. 

Manitoba is slightly ahead of the federal government, which has yet to confirm how it will tackle child safety online. Sources told The Logic last month that Ottawa will go ahead with national age restrictions on social media platforms as part of the online safety legislation Culture Minister Marc Miller plans to table this year. The federal government is considering extending those restrictions to AI chatbots as well. 

Different rules in different parts of the country would create added costs and burdens for platforms, said University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law. 

“Many of the companies may well say they’re simply going to make efforts to block users from that province,” rather than making costly adjustments to their platforms to comply with the laws of relatively small jurisdictions, said Geist.

Meta took such an approach to Canada’s attempt to regulate online news content on its platform, opting instead to block all news from its social media sites in the country. 

Provincial bans also raise constitutional questions about whether provincial legislatures have the jurisdiction to impose their own rules, Geist said. While provinces have some power over consumer protection, telecommunications fall into the federal government’s domain. 

“There may be a place for the provinces to support federal movement in this space,” Moe said, adding that his government will consider using provincial regulations to augment the federal rules. B.C. and Saskatchewan have said they’ll likely only resort to provincial bans if federal efforts fall short. 

Canadians are increasingly on board with restricting kids’ access to online spaces, despite doubt among experts that it will actually protect children. A Leger survey of Canadians last month found 70 per cent of respondents liked the idea of banning youth under the age of 16 from social media platforms, and 69 per cent favour banning kids’ access to chatbots as well. 

The poll found consistent support across the country, and just over half of those surveyed said there should be a consistent, national approach. 

Moe said he spoke to Kinew last week about Manitoba’s plans to bar children from social media at a meeting of western premiers in Alberta. The Manitoba government did not respond to The Logic’s request for comment. 

In a joint statement after the meeting, all the western premiers underscored the importance of taking a consistent approach to risks involving online harms and emerging technologies.