B.C. welcomes online safety bill, despite shortfalls, AG Niki Sharma says

B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma responds to questions outside B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

RICHMOND — British Columbia’s attorney general says the federal government’s new online safety legislation can’t come soon enough, even as it falls short of what the province wanted.

Niki Sharma says the proposed bill addresses many of the B.C. government’s concerns by introducing age restrictions for social media and regulating the companies behind AI chatbots.

But Sharma says the bill doesn’t address all of her government’s concerns, and lacks a requirement for AI companies to report violent content to police.

She says it’s something the province asked for after it was revealed OpenAI did not flag worrisome interactions between its chatbot and the Tumbler Ridge, B.C., shooter, who killed eight people and then herself in February.

Sharma says Culture Minister Marc Miller told her the government wants guidelines that would lay out the responsibility platforms have to report certain content, even though specific requirements aren’t in the bill.

She says the legislation needs to pass quickly to protect children who are vulnerable to the harms of social media, adding that B.C. wants to be at the table for future discussions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2026.