C-63
Online Harms Act (Bill C-63)
Would have established Digital Safety Commission with platform duties for seven harmful content categories including content inducing children to harm themselves. Required 24-hour CSAM takedown.
Jurisdiction
Canada
Enacted
Pending
Effective
TBD
Enforcement
TBD
Died on Order Paper — Parliament prorogued Jan 2025
Parliament of CanadaWhy It Matters
Would have been Canada's comprehensive online safety law. 'Content inducing children to harm themselves' directly addressed self-harm.
Recent Developments
Died Jan 2025. Bill C-9 (Combatting Hate Act, Sep 2025) covers hate speech Criminal Code provisions only—does NOT include Digital Safety Commission or platform duties. Comprehensive online platform regulation being developed separately.
At a Glance
Applies to
Harms addressed
Who Must Comply
- Would have applied to online platforms
Obligations fall on:
Safety Provisions
- Would have created: Digital Safety Commission
- Would have covered: child exploitation, non-consensual intimate images, extremism, content inducing self-harm in children
- 24-hour takedown for CSAM and non-consensual intimate images
View on map
Canada
Focus Areas
Cite This
APA
Canada. (n.d.). Online Harms Act (Bill C-63).
Related Regulations
UK OSA
One of the most comprehensive platform content moderation regimes globally. Creates specific duties around suicide, self-harm, and eating disorder content for children with 'highly effective' age assurance requirements.
Ireland OSMR
Establishes Coimisiún na Meán (Media Commission) with binding duties for video-sharing platforms. One of the cleaner examples of explicit self-harm/suicide/eating-disorder content duties in platform governance.
AU Online Safety Act
Grants eSafety Commissioner powers to issue removal notices with 24-hour compliance. Basic Online Safety Expectations (BOSE) formalize baseline safety governance requirements.
Brazil ECA Digital
Comprehensive child digital safety law applying to any IT product or service directed at or likely to be accessed by minors in Brazil, with extraterritorial reach.
AIDA
Would have regulated high-impact AI systems with potential penalties up to $25M or 5% global revenue. Part of Bill C-27 which died when Parliament ended.
Ofcom Children's Codes
Ofcom codes requiring user-to-user services and search services to protect children from harmful content including suicide, self-harm, and eating disorder content. Explicitly covers AI chatbots that enable content sharing between users. Requires detection technology, content moderation, and recommender system controls.
Last updated January 22, 2026. Verify against primary sources before relying on this information.