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Canada’s Bill C-34: A New Digital Safety Framework

The introduction of Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act (the “SSMA”) marks an ambitious attempt by the Canadian government to regulate social media, online services, and AI chatbots. The legislation would establish a new Digital Safety Act (DSA), create a Digital Safety Commission of Canada, impose safety obligations on social media and AI chatbot services, and prohibit social media accounts for children under 16 unless a service qualifies for an exemption based on child-safety safeguards.

Viewed in isolation, Bill C-34 may appear to be another online harms bill.…

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Personal jurisdiction, Canada
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Contracts, Personal Jurisdiction and Electronic Agreements

Most contracts contain clauses that govern both choice of law and venue for resolving disputes. However, there are occasions where questions arise as to where a contract is formed, especially in cases where the personal jurisdiction over a person is in dispute. Many contracts do not address this. The decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Sinclair v. Venezia Turismo, 2025 SCC 27 , which dealt with the framework for determining personal jurisdiction at common law, confirmed that when a contract is formed using electronic means of communications the usual rule that a contract is formed where the acceptance of the offer is received is where the contract is formed.…

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Tiktok privacy Canada
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Tiktok Privacy Decision: A Major Compliance Warning

You may be in for an unpleasant surprise when you read the September 23, 2025 findings of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) in PIPEDA Findings # 2025-003. The decision, issued jointly with the OPC counterparts in Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta involving Tiktok, is easily the most significant privacy enforcement action in Canada in years. It provides important guidance on what the federal and provincial privacy commissioners (the “Offices”) expect under privacy laws including with respect to minors and to obtain consents to collect and use personal information.…

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Bartz v Anthropic
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Anthropic AI Decision on Copyright Fair Use

United States District Court judge William Alsup just released an important decision in the AI copyright litigation in Bartz v Anthropic PBC. He summarized his ruling as follows:

  • The use of the books at issue to train Claude and its precursors was exceedingly transformative and was a fair use under Section 107 of the Copyright Act.
  • The digitization of the books purchased in print form by Anthropic was also a fair use …because all Anthropic did was replace the print copies it had purchased for its central library with more convenient space-saving and searchable digital copies for its central library — without adding new copies, creating new works, or redistributing existing copies.
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AI Regulation: An Overview of Global Frameworks

I just came across two reports from feeds I monitor, one from LinkedIn, the other from Canlii. The first is the report, 2024 State of the AI Regulatory Landscape. This report provides an overview of the evolving AI regulatory frameworks across major jurisdictions, particularly the United States, European Union, and China. As AI technologies advance, governments are increasingly focused on implementing effective governance structures to mitigate potential risks while fostering innovation. The report highlights various regulatory approaches and policy choices, each addressing different aspects of AI development and deployment.…

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EU Convention on AI
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Convention on AI: Ensuring Human Rights and Democracy

On September 5, 2024, Canada’s major trading partners including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union signed the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law (CETS 225). The Convention on AI is a big deal. It is a comprehensive legal framework that aims to ensure that activities within the lifecycle of AI systems are aligned with core human rights, democratic values, and the rule of law. While Canada participated in negotiating the Convention, it did not sign it or announce whether it will consult on whether to sign and ratify the Convention.…

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Holiday Book Suggestions from Barry Sookman
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Holiday reading suggestions

As we enjoy a bit of time off over the holidays, here are a few books you may want to read. These are selected from books I read this year. My suggestions are an eclectic assortment of books with topics on AI, micro-chips, quantum computing, gene patenting litigation, values and the climate crisis, a biography of Elon Musk, and, for those interested, books on longevity. Here is a short summary of each suggested book.

The Equality Machine by Orly Lobel – This book offers a critical examination of AI’s role in shaping equality in modern society.…

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Dynamic blocking order
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Dynamic blocking orders available in Canada: Rogers Media

Orders requiring ISPs to block websites that make available copyright infringing materials are commonly made in many countries around the world. The courts’ equitable jurisdiction to make such orders in Canada was recently approved by the Federal Court of Appeal in the  Teksavvy Solutions Inc. v. Bell Media Inc. 2021 FCA 100 (GoldTV), (leave to appeal to the Supreme Court dismissed). In the recent ruling, Rogers Media Inc et al v John Doe 1 et al 2022 FC 775, the Federal Court issued a dynamic blocking order to require Canada’s leading ISPs to block access to streaming servers that provide unauthorized streams of NHL games in real time.…

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Copyright and IOT and AI
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Copyright, AI and IOT: my submission to the consultation

Here is a copy of my submission to the copyright consultation on the implications of AI and IOT on copyright.

Thank you for providing an opportunity to provide input into the  Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IOT) copyright consultation.

The copyright consultation raises important issues. The government should be cautious before making any amendments to the Copyright Act given the complexity of the issues and the difficulty in assessing how the changes would work in practice.

Background

I am Senior counsel in the Technology Law Group of McCarthy Tetrault LLP.…

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what the CPPA means for you
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Crestview panel on what the CPPA means for Canadians

I had the pleasure of participating today in a Crestview moderated panel that focused on what the CPPA means for Canadians. I was joined by Jackie Choquette, Interim Practice Lead, Government Relations, Crestview Strategy, Sarina Rehal, Vice President, Crestview Strategy, and Bill Abbott, Director Data Policy and Research, Data & Trust Office, TELUS.

You can view a recording of the Crestview moderated panel below:

If you just want to see the slides used at the Crestview moderated panel, they are below:…

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Barry Sookman
This site is about technology, copyright, artificial intelligence, and privacy law.