Alberta Youth to Address Parliament on Online Safety Act and Digital Protection
A common criticism directed at the Canadian government is that public policy often fails to keep pace with rapid technological advancements, leaving vulnerable individuals inadequately protected from the potential harms of digital innovation. This gap between policy and technology has created significant challenges in safeguarding citizens in online environments.
Youth Initiative to Flip the Narrative
A determined group of young individuals is working to change this dynamic. Armed with a comprehensive new report, more than a dozen youth advocates—including three from Alberta—are preparing to address Parliament Hill this Wednesday. Their mission is to provide the government with concrete recommendations on how to better address the ways digital media can amplify abuse and harassment.
"For too long, young people have reported harm online and received automated responses instead of action," explained Deep Braich, one of the Calgary-based youth participants. "Our blueprint for Bill C-63 recognizes that safety must be built into the system from the ground up, not treated as an afterthought."
Personal Experiences Driving Advocacy
Blue Vetsch, another participant in the initiative who uses pronouns it and they, described social media as "a kind of hell for some"—a reality they understand all too well from personal experience.
"I've been called names under the sun," Vetsch shared. "I've experienced a lot of bigotry, discrimination, and hate speech."
Through their experiences, Vetsch has identified loopholes that companies frequently use to evade responsibility for the suffering enabled on their platforms. "Being affected on a personal level has made me realize that I'm more passionate about advocating for youth rights in online spaces," said Vetsch, a 20-year-old social work student at Northern Lakes College in Grande Prairie.
Organizational Support and Engagement
Vetsch was introduced to the Edmonton-based human rights advocacy group John Humphrey Centre several years ago at a youth retreat. The organization had been approached by multiple young people expressing interest in researching how to stay safe on social media platforms.
Tiffany Efird, project lead for youth and community engagement at the centre, explained that this presented a new opportunity to highlight an important area often overlooked by policymakers. The centre's role involved facilitating meetings between victims and survivors of online abuse.
As legislation was being developed, Efird noted that the very youth for whom these laws were intended felt excluded from the process—to the extent that some proposed rules seemed irrelevant to their actual experiences. "So we were like (to the government), 'Talk to some of the young folks that we were working with,' and then we decided to do that engagement," Efird recounted.
The Resulting Report and Legislative Context
The outcome of this engagement is a detailed report prepared by 13 youth committed to driving policy change related to online safety. Their work comes as several advocates have called on the federal government to pass the controversial Bill C-63.
This comprehensive legislation proposes to regulate online content used to:
- Bully children or encourage self-harm
- Stir up violence and terrorism
- Sexualize children or victims of sexual abuse
- Target sexually explicit content uploaded without consent
The youth-led report aims to ensure that the legislation effectively addresses these critical issues while incorporating the perspectives of those most affected by online harms.
