Attorney general’s, victim’s statements on protecting youth from online harms

VANCOUVER - Niki Sharma, Attorney General, and Chelsey Whittingham, mother of Maddy Croswell, have released the following statements about the need for further regulation of social media and AI chatbots to protect children online:

Whittingham said:

"Last September, my family and I suffered the worst trauma we could ever imagine when Maddy, my beautiful, deeply loved, vibrant 13-year-old daughter, lost her life after repeated exposure to harmful content that was pushed on her by a social media platform. We believed we were doing everything we could to protect our child. We had parental controls on her phone. We monitored screen time. We had open communication and a safe, loving home environment. We had no reason to believe the extent of what Maddy was being exposed to by the social media platform.

"What many parents may not realize is that parental controls alone are no match for powerful recommendation systems that can continuously expose vulnerable children to emotionally harmful and dangerous content without their families' knowledge.

"I was encouraged to see the federal social media bill proposed earlier this month, but I would like to see more. Families cannot fight billion-dollar technology systems alone. Canada needs greater transparency around age verification, recommendation algorithms directed at children, regulation of self-harm and suicide-promoting content targeting minors, independent oversight of platforms and faster intervention mechanisms for youth.

"Both parents and children require education and guidance about what these social media platforms are and how to protect children from the harms that they can cause. These platforms are designed to maximize kids' time and attention online. Parents should be educated on how to effectively set time limits, monitor children's use and disable the collection of data and algorithmic recommendations that are targeted to maximizing time online, with no regard to the harms that can be caused. This requires a concerted effort by governments, educators, health-care providers and parents, and the co-operation of the tech companies. It is time for these companies to put people over profits.

"Maddy should be remembered for the beautiful life she lived, not the tragedy that took her from us. Maddy was a child who deserved protection. She was a loving daughter, sister, friend, a driven competitive gymnast and a successful student. She was kind, funny, intelligent and full of potential. She brought so much joy and light to the people around her.

"Maddy is so terribly loved and missed every single day by everyone who knew her. And if sharing her story can help protect even one child or spare one family from this kind of devastation, then her voice deserves to be heard. Children deserve to grow up in an online world designed to protect them, not exploit their vulnerability."

Sharma said:

"A few weeks ago, I had the honour of meeting Chelsey and her family to hear Maddy Croswell's story. I was both heartbroken and touched to learn about Maddy, the light she brought to people in her life and the tragic circumstances that led her to take her own life.

"In speaking with Chelsey, countless other parents and experts around B.C., it has become evident that we all share the goal of making sure Canada has laws in place that keep young kids safe online, limit their exposure to potentially harmful content and prevent them from engaging in violence against themselves or others.

"The federal government's safe social media act (Bill C-34), tabled in parliament earlier this month, is a promising step to addressing some of these harms, including through safe, age-appropriate design standards. However, Bill C-34 does leave some important areas unaddressed as well as uncertainty about how quickly these proposed regulations will be implemented, if they will work in the real world and how they will be enforced.

"I'm urgently seeking further clarification from Ottawa on when we can expect those guidelines to be drafted, approved and enacted, as well as how compliance with them will be enforced.

"I also continue to press for details about B.C.'s ask for a national threshold that clearly lays out when and how social media and AI chatbot companies should notify law enforcement when they become aware of credible threats of violence or self-harm on their platforms. Though Bill C-34 proposes establishing a digital safety commission to hold platforms accountable, it's unclear when it will be established and what teeth it will actually have.

"While this work continues, I urge the federal government to meet with parents like Chelsey to make sure these new laws will work for families and for our children in the real world.

"We cannot afford to lose any more time in our efforts to stop companies from treating young minds as experimental playgrounds for profit-maximizing business practices. The lives of young people like Maddy Croswell, like Amanda Todd, Carson Cleland, Robin Janjua, the victims of Tumbler Ridge, and countless others, depend on it."

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