Online Child Exploitation Surges During Lockdowns, Police Alarmed
Police report a troubling rise in online child exploitation cases since lockdowns, raising concerns about its lasting impact on children’s safety.
Vancouver, Canada, Child Exploitation, Online Safety, Sextortion, RCMP
Vancouver: Online predators are getting smarter, especially on platforms where kids hang out. An officer from the RCMP’s Integrated Child Exploitation Unit in British Columbia shared that police are overwhelmed with cases.
During COVID-19, when kids were online more, exploitation cases shot up. But even after lockdowns, the numbers didn’t drop as expected. In fact, they almost quadrupled from 2021 to 2023.
Const. Solana Pare warns that this issue is likely here to stay. As technology evolves, so do the tactics of these predators. Kids are getting online at younger ages, which gives predators more chances to connect with them.
In B.C., reports of child exploitation jumped from about 4,600 in 2021 to nearly 16,000 last year. This trend isn’t just local; it’s happening across Canada. Statistics Canada noted a 58% rise in online child sexual exploitation from 2019 to 2022.
The RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre reported over 118,000 suspected online exploitation cases in just one year, marking a 15% increase from the previous year.
Online child sexual exploitation includes serious offenses like sextortion and child luring. Const. Pare emphasized that these reports are not going away; they’re only increasing as kids spend more time online.
Monique St. Germain from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection pointed out that the pandemic made these cases more common, and they haven’t slowed down since. She mentioned that authorities lack the tools to effectively tackle this growing problem.
One tragic case that brought attention to online exploitation was Amanda Todd’s in 2015. She was blackmailed online and ultimately took her own life. Her story highlighted the dangers of sextortion, a term that has become more familiar as similar cases emerge.
Sadly, more recent cases, like that of a 12-year-old boy in Prince George, B.C., who also died by suicide after being targeted, show that this issue is still very real.
Police across Canada are raising alarms about the rise in these cases, noting the severe consequences for victims, including self-harm and suicide.
St. Germain mentioned that technology, especially AI, is becoming easier to use, which complicates the situation. Police are working hard to keep up with these changes and are getting training on digital technologies to better understand and gather evidence.
While it’s tough to know the true extent of these crimes, increased awareness and new laws around mandatory reporting are helping shine a light on the issue.
Const. Pare stressed that it’s up to each platform to ensure they’re not hosting child exploitation material. With new laws, companies are now responsible for preventing and reporting these incidents.
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection is pushing for the Online Harms Bill, which aims to regulate online safety better. St. Germain expressed frustration that companies have been allowed to self-regulate for too long.
The Online Harms Bill addresses various issues, including protecting children from harmful content. Recently, the government announced plans to split the bill into two parts, focusing first on child safety.
St. Germain noted that Canada is lagging behind other countries, like the U.K., which has already implemented its own Online Safety Act. She hopes Canada will step up to protect its children soon.
In the meantime, provinces are stepping in. B.C. has introduced the Intimate Images Protection Act to help victims remove non-consensual images online. Other provinces are also enacting similar laws.
While these provincial measures are helpful, St. Germain believes we need a more comprehensive approach to tackle this borderless crime effectively.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2024.
Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press