Manitoba to ban social media and AI chatbots for kids

The Government of Manitoba plans to ban social media and AI chatbots for youth.

As reported by CBC News, Premier Wab Kinew made the announcement at a fundraising gala in Winnipeg over the weekend. At the event, Kinew criticized social media platforms for attempting to get kids “addicted” to them. “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,” he said.

However, Kinew didn’t mention specifics, including when the ban will be implemented or what age group it will target. For context, many have been looking at 16 and under for such a ban, including Australia, which in December became the first country to introduce such a law. The Government of Canada, meanwhile, has said it’s “seriously” considering a similar move for youth under 16.

Only time will tell how the provincial and federal governments will actually handle the social media ban. While most Canadians say they support such a move, many likely aren’t aware of what would actually go into enforcing it. For instance, Fortune reported earlier this month that many Australian teens are sidestepping the law by using face masks or their parents’ IDs. We’ve seen a similar situation in the UK when Discord rolled out age verification, and people were using a photo of Norman Reedus from the video game Death Stranding to successfully circumvent the security feature.

There are also ongoing concerns related to privacy, given that age verification requires adults to share information like IDs and even biometrics with big companies. It’s also unclear if the Government of Manitoba has any consideration for regulating video games that have become sort of social media platforms unto themselves. Last week, it was reported that the Feds are concerned with Roblox, a game that’s popular among kids and supports millions of user-generated experiences, because it’s become a hotbed for hate speech and child grooming.

Via: CBC News