Companies would also face requirements for transparency around “reporting thresholds in crisis situations”, such as when a user intends to harm themselves or another person.

The issue has been particularly sensitive in Canada after a mass shooting in April that killed nine people in the small mining town of Tumbler Ridge, including the shooter.

OpenAI has faced intense criticism after it banned the shooter from its platform in June last year over the user’s troubling conversations on ChatGPT, but did not report the account to Canadian police because it said it saw no evidence of an imminent attack.

In December, Australia became the first country in the world to require TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and other top sites to remove accounts held by under-16s or face heavy fines.

Indonesia began enforcing its own social media ban for users under the age of 16 in March, while several European governments have announced their desire to make similar moves.

– AFP