A Canadian province could become the first jurisdiction in the country to not only ban children from social media but also from AI chatbots.
That measure was announced by the Premier of Manitoba Wab Kinew, as he said, according to Canadian media reports, “These platforms are not neutral. They have been built this way to maximize engagement.”
He added, “They’re doing these very awful things to kids all in the name of a few likes, all in the name of more engagement, and all in the name of money.”
Other provinces are considering similar measures including Saskatchewan and Quebec.
While Australia has already barred youth under 16 from accessing social media, there is going pressure on the Canadian Government to undertake similar legislation. Earlier this month, Marc Miller, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, told reporters in Ottawa that the Government was taking the matter “very seriously.”
Members of the ruling Liberal Party adopted two such motions during their national convention in Montreal this month. The first is for preventing children under 16 from creating social media accounts and placing the onus on tech companies to ensure compliance. The second was to prevent those under 16 from “all AI chatbots and other potentially harmful forms of AI interaction.”
The issue of AI chatbots was tacked on to the apparent harms caused by social media. In February this year, a 18-year-old trans shooter in the town of Tumbler Ridge in British Columbia killed eight people. It later emerged in the report from the Wall Street Journal that the shooter was barred from company OpenAI’s platform ChatGPT but law enforcement was not notified about their concerning interactions and they even managed to create another account.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman apologised for that error in judgement earlier this month. In a letter to the township of Tumbler Ridge, he said, “While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to recognize the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered.”
