Online child exploitation in British Columbia has surged alarmingly, almost quadrupling from 2021 to 2023, according to recent police reports. This upward trend is reflective of a national issue, with Statistics Canada indicating a 58 percent rise in reported cases from 2019 to 2022, and the numbers continue to climb.
This worrying increase is attributed to the rise of online platforms where children spend significant amounts of time, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. Constable Solana Pare from the RCMP Integrated Child Exploitation Unit in British Columbia highlighted the ongoing challenge, emphasizing the need for police to keep pace with technological advances used by predators. The number of reports to the RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre rose by 15 percent year-over-year, totaling 118,162 suspected cases of online child sexual exploitation from April 2023 to March 2024.
The types of offences have expanded to include sextortion, in which victims are coerced into providing sexual images under threat. The tragic cases of Amanda Todd and Carson Cleland are stark reminders of the potential outcomes of such exploitation, with both individuals dying by suicide following harassment and blackmail.
Authorities are warning that the infrastructure to combat online exploitation is inadequate, with technology like artificial intelligence making these crimes easier to commit. Only by enhancing these tools can law enforcement hope to manage the scale of the problem effectively.
Nationally, legislative efforts such as the Online Harms Bill are underway, aimed at regulating digital spaces to protect minors. Meanwhile, some provinces are taking individual steps, like British Columbia’s Intimate Images Protection Act, to combat the non-consensual distribution of intimate images.
Monique St. Germain, general counsel for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, urges comprehensive action, noting that Canada’s efforts lag behind other countries such as the United Kingdom. Canada’s proposed Digital Safety Commission aims to hold social media companies accountable, yet there remains considerable work to ensure digital safety laws catch up to the reality of online exploitation.
