New law would let B.C. sue social media giants

VANCOUVER • The B.C. government wants to hold social media giants accountable for addictive content served to children, introducing legislation Thursday that will allow the government to sue corporations for harms.

“Our government previously warned social media giants, tobacco, drug companies and other big, faceless corporations that we would be taking action to hold them accountable for the harm they are causing to people, including kids,” Premier David Eby said in a statement. “My message is simple: Here in B.C., we expect you to operate in a way that doesn’t hurt people, period.”

In introducing the Public Health Accountability and Cost Recovery Act, Attorney General Niki Sharma said it follows the government’s success in recovering costs from tobacco companies and opioid manufacturers for the devastating health consequences for their products.

A government report released in 2022 said tobacco-related illness was the leading cause of preventable death in B.C., at 6,000 people a year, and it cost the health system $2.3 billion annually.

“Too many people in B.C. are living with negative health impacts from products they should be able to trust,” Sharma said.

“Once this new legislation passes, we will be able to sue more wrongdoers, as we’ve done successfully with tobacco and opioid companies, and keep more people in B.C. healthy and safe.”

The government can use any damages to pay for hospital treatments, doctor appointments, counselling and preventive measures such as educational programs about the harms of social media. In addition to companies, directors and officers of those companies can be held liable.

The legislation will also apply to companies that produce products designed to create addiction, particularly in children and young adults.

Eby first mentioned the legislation in January when he announced that the government would ban cellphones in classrooms and give more resources to victims of online sextortion.

Eby said during that press conference that young people are being fed a “constant stream of more and more extreme content that has been linked to increasing levels of anorexia among girls and boys, increasing anxiety and depression among young people, addictive and obsessive behaviours.”

Eby stood beside the family of Carson Cleland, the 12-year-old Prince George boy who died by suicide in October after being the victim of sexual extortion online, and pledged he would do more to protect children from online harms.

It follows a move in the United States, where a multi-state coalition of 33 attorneys general sued Meta, alleging it damages young people’s mental health and illegally harvests their data.