B.C. puts online harm bill on hold after meeting with social media companies

The Government of British Columbia has put a hold on its online harms bill following an agreement with the major social media platforms.

In a joint statement with representatives from Meta, TikTok, X (Twitter) and Snap, Premiere David Eby said the government and these groups will form an online safety action table to discuss “tangible steps” to protect people from online harm.

As part of this arrangement, Eby says Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, has committed to working with the government’s emergency management officials to amplify official information during critical events like natural disasters. During last year’s B.C. wildfires, Eby blasted Meta for its ongoing blackout of Canadian news, which he says prevented those in the province from seeing important news updates related to the blazes.

The new agreement with the social media companies comes after the provincial government proposed a bill in March that would require platforms like Facebook and X to pay for health costs related to their business. In the case of social media platforms, Eby has specifically singled out the suicide of a 12-year-old boy, Carson Cleland, who had fallen victim to online sextortion.

“Their interest is in keeping kids online, engaged in their apps with ever more extreme content, so that they can serve them ads, so that they can make money for their shareholders,” he said at the time.

Via: Global News