The federal government is spending more than $370,000 for research that will examine the impact the digital world and disinformation on the mental health of Canadian youth. Canada’s Culture Minister Marc Miller announced the funding on Wednesday for Calgary’s Children’s Healthcare “Canada’s Mind Over Media” project at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. “The research by Children’s Health Care Canada will better equip experts, leaders and advocates with the resources they need and contribute to the national conversation around child safety and youth well-being in this digital era,” Miller said. The project aims to study the impacts, potential harms and costs associated with youth digital engagement. “Kids lives are on the line,” said Children First Canada CEO Sara Austin. “It is an issue of life and death for kids all across this country. Parents and kids have been struggling with this issue for far too long.” In June, the House of Commons passed first reading of Bill C-34 — otherwise known as the Safe Social Media Act — to crack down on the effect big tech and social media has on children. “We know that our Canadian federal leaders think that this is an important issue. But sadly, it has never risen to the top of the pile in the way that it really deserves to be,” Austin said. Austin’s group released a report this week that outlined online harms as the No. 1 threat facing Canadian youth. Last year it was unintentional and preventable injuries. The report also found Canadian youth spend on average seven hours per day on screens. The legislation would force social media platforms and AI chatbots to mandate age-appropriate safeguards and protections for young users, mitigate risks of exposing youth to harmful content and rapidly remove any material that sexually victimizes children, or revictimizes survivors, including deepfake images. “Young people are navigating digital environments that are constantly changing, often faster than our understanding of their impacts,” said Jo Ann Beckie, who is the senior operating officer at Alberta Children’s Hospital. “For those of us working in children’s health care, this is a health issue.” Federal officials are hopeful the bill will pass and be given royal assent this fall when Parliament resumes.
