Discussion · Government Orders
Chris Bittle Liberal
“I support this bill and want it sent to committee. Social media algorithms push children toward dangerous content like eating disorders and hate speech just to keep their attention. Tech companies do not care about safety and ignore Parliament, and parents cannot protect their kids from these platforms on their own.”
“Mr. Speaker, I start my speech, as many members have, with thoughts of my children. I have a 10-year-old son and an eight-year-old daughter, who are hopefully asleep by this point in the debate. I am living in this wonderful spot where they still like hanging out with their dad and do not have the device that many of us have in our pockets, with constant unfiltered access to the Internet. Having seen this debate before and having many colleagues and friends who have children who are older, I am afraid, like many Canadians. I am afraid of what will happen in a few years with the conversation when they ask, “Can I have a phone?” That conversation is coming. It is coming for all of us as parents. It is worrisome. We have ready access to the world in our pockets. I am old enough to remember the promise that this would be an enormous blessing, that it would be incredible for our society. In many ways it is, but in so many ways it is a curse. Like all of us in this place, I have talked to so many parents who are worried and who are afraid. When I was thinking about what I was going to say today, I was taken back to the last Parliament when I was on the justice committee, and we were doing a prestudy of Bill C-63, which was a previous iteration of online harms legislation. The topic was so important that despite a filibuster going on in the House, it was important for everyone at the justice committee to discuss it. I have been through a lot of difficult bills and studies in this place at committee, and I have to say that that one was the hardest by far. We had witness after witness and parent after parent who tried, who did everything they could, but whose son or daughter is no longer with us. They were children who felt trapped and cornered in these online spaces. We can talk about or suggest there was bad parenting, but these were parents who were paying attention. It should not matter, because our kids should be safe. We want our kids to be safe in all the spaces they occupy. I do not know that any member can stand up here today and say, and I am not suggesting that anyone has, that they are safe, because they are not. As the previous member said, these algorithms are dangerous. They take our kids to dangerous places. It was shocking to me that the algorithm knows. If someone is inclined to an eating disorder, it will show them people who are inclined to that particular affliction. If someone is inclined to hate speech, it will show them that as well, because the goal is to keep us focused on our phones as much as possible. It is the goal of the algorithm, and it is powerful. Having dealt with these social media companies, these big tech companies, through various bills, whether it was the Canada Elections Act, the Online Streaming Act or the various digital bills we have passed and debated over the years that I have been here, one thing has been certain to me: These companies do not care. These American tech giants do not care and have contempt for this place. I have watched them too many times come to parliamentary committees, be evasive, not answer members’ questions and have a complete disregard for what we are doing. These companies are so powerful that they can ignore a parliamentary summons. We are still waiting for Mark Zuckerberg to appear from a previous parliamentary summons. I do not think those carry over, but he was summonsed. He did not care; he did not have to. It does not matter. That was Meta. Google was slightly better before the heritage committee. Its representatives would come and be evasive. They would do their few minutes and move on. They did not care about the safety of Canadians. They even set up an astroturf campaign over one of our bills, with a fake individual who was arguing on behalf of artists. He had no members. He was just receiving money from Google and Meta, I believe. Basically, he was an unregistered lobbyist whom we caught lying to the heritage committee. Google did not care. It denied ever being behind it, even though this person testified he was receiving money from the company. To them, a bunch of kids dying is the cost of doing business. I hope that shocks all of us. I think it does. Having listened to many of the speeches here today, I hear there is a willingness to do something. It is important for Parliament to debate what that is, but it is shocking to see across the border the lack of willingness of our American friends and neighbours to regulate these companies, to rein them in. I do not know about everyone here, but I am tired of the harm. I am tired of the stories. Recently, a colleague of mine asked me to stop by a reception at the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, which does incredible work, against all odds, and is based in Winnipeg. We talked to parents who feel that their backs are against the wall and who have lost kids or had kids kidnapped. One of the parents had their child kidnapped through readily available software that was accessible in the child’s school. When I look to these parents, they look to us and ask what Parliament is doing. We need to act. I hear from members of this place that we should let parents parent, that it is not for the government to step in. I can appreciate that this is coming from a good place, but these companies are so powerful. Parents are busy. It is easy to let kids have some screen time. They cannot be over their shoulder 24 hours a day. The rabbit holes they can go down are incredibly dangerous and can lead to their deaths. Whether it is extortion leading to suicide, kidnapping, or all the horrific stories we have heard, we need to step up. We have a willingness to act, but it is shocking to me, and I hope it is shocking to everyone, having watched these companies do nothing, that we need to impose duties upon them: the duty to protect, the duty to act responsibly and the duty to make content inaccessible. They make so much money off of this. It should be shocking to all of us, to all Canadians, that Parliament needs to step up and say to these social media companies that they need to do the right thing, because they have been absent for so long. A member from Scarborough at our committee asked a Google executive, when Google came up, about a sign on the wall at its headquarters. It said “Do no evil”, which was probably mocking Microsoft. Google took down that sign. It was too embarrassing. I hope that we have a good debate, that we move forward with this legislation and that the committee has an excellent discussion about what moves forward next, because we owe it to our kids.”
Mr. Speaker, I start my speech, as many members have, with thoughts of my children. I have a 10-year-old son and an eight-year-old daughter, who are hopefully asleep by this point in the debate. I am living in this wonderful spot where they still like hanging out with their dad and do not have the device that many of us have in our pockets, with constant unfiltered access to the Internet. Having seen this debate before and having many colleagues and friends who have children who are older, I am afraid, like many Canadians. I am afraid of what will happen in a few years with the conversation when they ask, “Can I have a phone?” That conversation is coming. It is coming for all of us as parents. It is worrisome. We have ready access to the world in our pockets. I am old enough to remember the promise that this would be an enormous blessing, that it would be incredible for our society. In many ways it is, but in so many ways it is a curse. Like all of us in this place, I have talked to so many parents who are worried and who are afraid. When I was thinking about what I was going to say today, I was taken back to the last Parliament when I was on the justice committee, and we were doing a prestudy of Bill C-63, which was a previous iteration of online harms legislation. The topic was so important that despite a filibuster going on in the House, it was important for everyone at the justice committee to discuss it. I have been through a lot of difficult bills and studies in this place at committee, and I have to say that that one was the hardest by far. We had witness after witness and parent after parent who tried, who did everything they could, but whose son or daughter is no longer with us. They were children who felt trapped and cornered in these online spaces. We can talk about or suggest there was bad parenting, but these were parents who were paying attention. It should not matter, because our kids should be safe. We want our kids to be safe in all the spaces they occupy. I do not know that any member can stand up here today and say, and I am not suggesting that anyone has, that they are safe, because they are not. As the previous member said, these algorithms are dangerous. They take our kids to dangerous places. It was shocking to me that the algorithm knows. If someone is inclined to an eating disorder, it will show them people who are inclined to that particular affliction. If someone is inclined to hate speech, it will show them that as well, because the goal is to keep us focused on our phones as much as possible. It is the goal of the algorithm, and it is powerful. Having dealt with these social media companies, these big tech companies, through various bills, whether it was the Canada Elections Act, the Online Streaming Act or the various digital bills we have passed and debated over the years that I have been here, one thing has been certain to me: These companies do not care. These American tech giants do not care and have contempt for this place. I have watched them too many times come to parliamentary committees, be evasive, not answer members’ questions and have a complete disregard for what we are doing. These companies are so powerful that they can ignore a parliamentary summons. We are still waiting for Mark Zuckerberg to appear from a previous parliamentary summons. I do not think those carry over, but he was summonsed. He did not care; he did not have to. It does not matter. That was Meta. Google was slightly better before the heritage committee. Its representatives would come and be evasive. They would do their few minutes and move on. They did not care about the safety of Canadians. They even set up an astroturf campaign over one of our bills, with a fake individual who was arguing on behalf of artists. He had no members. He was just receiving money from Google and Meta, I believe. Basically, he was an unregistered lobbyist whom we caught lying to the heritage committee. Google did not care. It denied ever being behind it, even though this person testified he was receiving money from the company. To them, a bunch of kids dying is the cost of doing business. I hope that shocks all of us. I think it does. Having listened to many of the speeches here today, I hear there is a willingness to do something. It is important for Parliament to debate what that is, but it is shocking to see across the border the lack of willingness of our American friends and neighbours to regulate these companies, to rein them in. I do not know about everyone here, but I am tired of the harm. I am tired of the stories. Recently, a colleague of mine asked me to stop by a reception at the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, which does incredible work, against all odds, and is based in Winnipeg. We talked to parents who feel that their backs are against the wall and who have lost kids or had kids kidnapped. One of the parents had their child kidnapped through readily available software that was accessible in the child’s school. When I look to these parents, they look to us and ask what Parliament is doing. We need to act. I hear from members of this place that we should let parents parent, that it is not for the government to step in. I can appreciate that this is coming from a good place, but these companies are so powerful. Parents are busy. It is easy to let kids have some screen time. They cannot be over their shoulder 24 hours a day. The rabbit holes they can go down are incredibly dangerous and can lead to their deaths. Whether it is extortion leading to suicide, kidnapping, or all the horrific stories we have heard, we need to step up. We have a willingness to act, but it is shocking to me, and I hope it is shocking to everyone, having watched these companies do nothing, that we need to impose duties upon them: the duty to protect, the duty to act responsibly and the duty to make content inaccessible. They make so much money off of this. It should be shocking to all of us, to all Canadians, that Parliament needs to step up and say to these social media companies that they need to do the right thing, because they have been absent for so long. A member from Scarborough at our committee asked a Google executive, when Google came up, about a sign on the wall at its headquarters. It said “Do no evil”, which was probably mocking Microsoft. Google took down that sign. It was too embarrassing. I hope that we have a good debate, that we move forward with this legislation and that the committee has an excellent discussion about what moves forward next, because we owe it to our kids.