Is it time for Canada to toughen up its social media laws for youth?

In a powerful episode of *The Big Story*, host Karen Sciolan speaks with Arturo Bejar, a former Meta security expert and whistleblower, about the urgent need for stronger social media regulations to protect youth. Bejar recounts his personal journey—from working at Meta to safeguarding teens, to witnessing his own daughter suffer severe online harms on Instagram, including unwanted sexual advances and bullying. Despite raising alarm bells with Mark Zuckerberg and other executives, he received no response, highlighting a systemic failure in corporate accountability. His testimony in a landmark Los Angeles trial, where Meta and YouTube were found liable for designing addictive platforms that harm children, underscores a growing legal and moral reckoning. Bejar argues that social media's core design—algorithmic recommendations, infinite scroll, autoplay, and social pressure—deliberately exploits young users' developing brains for ad revenue, not well-being. He calls for regulation to compel platforms to prioritize safety over engagement, advocating for features like default time limits, finite content feeds, and connections limited to known contacts. In the interim, he urges parents to proactively educate themselves and their children about online risks, creating safe spaces for disclosure and support.