Social media regulations In a time where social media permeates every aspect of society, regulating its use has become a primary concern for governments worldwide. Canada is now on the front lines of these efforts, addressing the various challenges posed by social media platforms to protect its citizens and governmental integrity. This essay explores the specific goals behind Canada’s social media regulations, the measures taken to prevent social media from affecting government operations, and the processes involved in implementing these new laws. Canada’s social media regulations target multiple issues, each critically important to maintaining a safe and equitable online environment. The main objectives vary from preventing online harm, …show more content…
The objective of Bill C-63 is to mitigate the risk posed by harmful online content, protect children's mental and physical health, render certain harmful content inaccessible, and hold online platforms accountable. However, according to Langevin, Liliane, et al., to achieve these goals the Act would have established a new online-harms regulator, the Digital Safety Commission of Canada (Commission), with broad search and seizure powers and the ability to levy fines of up to 6% of global revenues for non-compliance (Canada’s Bill C-63: Online Harms Act Targets Harmful Content on Social Media.” Blakes, 29 Feb. 2024). Meaning social media platforms would be required to implement tools that can find and remove harmful content, they must also create plans to keep users safe online and ensure they meet the rules for taking down content. This comes as different countries debate on how to balance free speech with regulating social media. Langevin, Liliane, et al, states that the EU and UK have strict regulations, while in the US, there are ongoing debates about laws that …show more content…
Monitoring information space is essentially “the Rapid Response Mechanism” (RRM). Canada monitors state-sponsored misinformation and other information manipulation strategies, guiding and informing Canada’s response to these threats. Exposing disinformation is when the Canadian government dedicates resources to counter false claims with facts and raise public awareness. Raising awareness on the international stage is Canada engaging with other states, supporting international efforts, and promotes awareness and resilience to disinformation through international platforms. Coordinating international responses Canada leads the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism Secretariat, enhancing G7 coordination to fight foreign disinformation. Impact and reasons for disinformation is understanding why information is mis-spread in the first place, disinformation erodes information integrity, undermines democracy, hinders public debate, and erodes trust in institutions. Malicious actors spread disinformation to influence public policies, voter decisions, polarize communities, discredit individuals, and undermine democracy. Finally, Sanctioning disinformation agents is when Canada imposes sanctions against individuals and entities spreading