Are you a threat to Marc Miller’s idea of ‘social cohesion’?

Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, was introduced June 10, 2026 by Heritage Minister Marc Miller. The headline provision: ban social media accounts for Canadians under 16. The provision Jim and Iain are concerned about: create a new Digital Safety Commission appointed by cabinet with powers to order platforms to remove categories of content from the internet. Michael Geist says the child protection piece will likely be ineffective. The content removal piece will not be.

Topics covered:
► Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, introduced June 10, 2026: banning social media accounts for Canadians under 16, with a pathway for platforms to seek exemptions by proving adequate safeguards, creating a new Digital Safety Commission appointed by cabinet, fines of 3% of global revenue or $10 million whichever is higher, and powers for the commission to order removal of categories of harmful content including violent extremism

► The verification gap: the bill does not specify how platforms will verify users are under 16, with Miller telling reporters there will be "a back and forth with platforms" about verification methods, with Michael Geist of the University of Ottawa saying the bill will likely be ineffective at its stated child protection goal

► Jim and Iain's core argument: the bill is not primarily about children, it is about a government-appointed commission with the power to define harmful content and order its removal from the internet, with the definition of harm controlled by the same government that called the official opposition unpatriotic the day before the bill was introduced

► Marc Miller's framing in committee: saying Canada has "reasonable restrictions on rights" and that social cohesion is "the ability for people to trust their institutions," with Jim identifying this as the exact wrong framing because the correct framing is restrictions on the state not restrictions on citizens

► The Russia, Iran, China, North Korea parallel: all have justified internet restriction using identical language of social cohesion, public safety, and protection of institutions, with Jim noting that the Financial Times reported this week on Russia disabling internet access and Iran doing the same, with the mechanism being identical even if the flags are different

► The Nazi flag versus hammer and sickle inconsistency: the bill proposes banning display of the Nazi swastika while making no mention of the communist hammer and sickle, which Jim reads as a tell about the political priors of the people who wrote it, particularly relevant for Canadians whose families were murdered under communism in countries like Ukraine and Hungary

► Bill C-18 as the precedent: Marc Miller's jurisdiction also covers Bill C-18 which still blocks accredited independent media including The Really Big Show from posting on Facebook and Instagram, with Jim noting the pattern of a minister who suppresses independent media now introducing legislation to give the government more power over internet content

► Jim's self-aware observation: if The Really Big Show and Sam Cooper and other independent voices together reach more Canadians than the CBC, that represents a challenge to the Liberal Party's narrative, which under a bill that defines harm as whatever a government-appointed commission determines could theoretically make them a threat to social cohesion

► Rachael Thomas's committee question: asking Miller to define social cohesion, receiving an answer about trusting institutions, with Jim connecting the institutions Miller wants Canadians to trust to CBC's track record and arguing the circular logic of the bill: trust the institutions, here is a commission to remove content that undermines them, the commission is appointed by the government that runs those institutions

Is a government commission appointed by the party that called the official opposition unpatriotic the right body to decide what Canadians are allowed to say on the internet?

Let us know what you think in the comments.

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