Attorney general’s statement on Meta settlement, need for safeguards in Canada

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Source: British Columbia - Government News
Date: 2026-08-31 18:30:00.0
Tags: [British Columbia, National, Technology, Justice, Public Safety]

British Columbia Attorney General Niki Sharma released a public statement demanding that Meta Platforms, Inc. immediately implement the same youth online safety protections in Canada that the company agreed to deploy for users under 18 in the United States under an $18-billion settlement. The U.S. settlement involves allegations that Meta's platforms contributed to harms experienced by children and youth and misled the public about product safety, prompting mandatory safeguards including age-related content restrictions, age-verification measures, and usage-reduction features. Attorney General Sharma emphasized that B.C. is urging Meta to fix its platforms in Canada without waiting for the outcomes of active lawsuits, while highlighting the province's past advocacy and legislative actions including the Intimate Images Protection Act and the federal Safe Social Media Act.

Provincial state of emergency ends, wildfire risk remains

Source: British Columbia - Government News
Date: 2026-08-27 22:25:00.0
Tags: [British Columbia, Emergency, Public Safety, Environment]

The Government of British Columbia ended the provincial state of emergency, which was initially declared on August 8, 2026, on the advice of emergency management officials. The cancellation has no impact on existing local states of emergency, evacuation orders, or evacuation alerts issued by local governments or First Nations. Statutory powers for response and resource coordination continue to be provided through the Wildfire Act and the Emergency and Disaster Management Act. Despite the provincial state of emergency ending, elevated wildfire risk persists due to ongoing warm and dry conditions, and the Province retains the authority to declare a new state of emergency if required.