OTTAWA — A recent report reveals that nearly 40% of Canadian teens who reported being sexually victimized online indicated that the incidents occurred on Snapchat. The findings, published by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, were based on a survey of nearly 1,300 teenagers. This report comes amid increasing demands from child safety advocates for the government to introduce new legislation aimed at enhancing online protections for children, particularly regarding tech platforms.

The report emphasizes the need for improved safety measures on private messaging platforms, as many teens reported experiencing various forms of online sexual violence. The document states, "If the guiding principles of an online safety regime are to safeguard children and prevent harm, then it must devote significant attention to the outsized role private communication services and functions play in the facilitation of online sexual victimization of teens in Canada."

Previous attempts by the Liberal government to regulate tech platforms, known as the Online Harms Act, did not pass before the spring federal election. This proposed legislation aimed to create a new digital safety regulator and required platforms to develop safety plans to minimize users' exposure to harmful content. However, it did not address private messaging, which the current report suggests should be a focus for future legislation.

The survey, conducted in collaboration with the polling firm Leger, asked teens aged 13 to 17 about their experiences with non-consensual and inappropriate sexual behavior online. Among the reported harms, 79% of respondents stated they had been pressured to discuss sexual topics, while 59% reported receiving unsolicited sexual images or videos. Of the teens who experienced sexual victimization online, 39% identified Snapchat as the platform where it occurred. Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta, were each cited by 20% of respondents.

Snapchat, a popular messaging app among teens, allows users to send photos and messages that automatically delete after a set time. Law enforcement agencies, including the RCMP, have raised concerns about the rise of sextortion cases, where teens are coerced into sending nude photos that are then threatened to be shared publicly unless demands are met. Snapchat has reported taking significant action against harmful content, with nearly three million enforcement actions related to sexual content and 960,000 instances of child exploitation reported from July to December 2024.

The report also highlighted that 17% of teen respondents experienced someone creating a naked image of them without consent, a trend that has grown with the rise of generative AI and the distribution of "deepfake" images. Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to criminalize the non-consensual sharing of such images and to increase penalties for their distribution. These proposed measures are currently under review by Justice Minister Sean Fraser, who is preparing a bill to address online crimes against minors.

Additionally, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon is working on a privacy bill that may include provisions for addressing deepfakes, such as a potential "right to deletion." Solomon noted, "One option is that you would say that you have the right to demand that that deep fake is deleted from social media," indicating that various approaches are being considered to tackle these issues effectively.