Sexual exploitation of children on the internet | Skyrocketing increase in reports

Cases of online child sexual exploitation reported to Canadian authorities have increased dramatically in recent months, shattering the record set during the COVID-19 pandemic, when young people were confined at home in front of their screens, reveal figures obtained by The Press.

“We had hoped that things would calm down, but that did not happen,” notes René Morin, spokesperson for the Canadian Center for Child Protection.

During the 2020 confinement, while young people were glued to their screens and their parents, often busy working, reports of sextortion, computer luring, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, distribution of child pornography photos and videos and other crimes of this kind had exploded, reaching unprecedented heights in the country. The breeding ground had become so fertile for predators that they openly welcomed each other online and exchanged tips on the hidden web to take better advantage of it.

At the time, experts worried that this phenomenon would become the new reality. Time will have proven them right.

The most recent figures from the two main organizations fighting child pornography in the country are unequivocal:

• Between April 2022 and March 2023, the RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Center received nearly 103,000 complaints and reports of online child sexual exploitation offenses, compared to 52,000 for 2020-2021. That’s twice as much.
• Since March, the Canadian Center for Child Protection (CCPE), which hosts reports from Canadians on its Cyberaide.ca platform, has sent 3.7 million requests to web companies to remove images of child pornography which were distributed on their platforms. This is an increase of 31% compared to the previous six months.
• For the same period, the center reported a 47% increase in sextortion cases and a 27% increase in computer luring cases compared to the previous six months. “These days, we receive an average of ten reports of sextortion per day », Alarmed René Morin.
• Also in the last six months, the organization has helped 226 victims in their efforts to obtain the deletion of their intimate images, or 44% more than for the six months before.

The victims are getting younger and younger.

“With tablets and cell phones, young people are getting on social media earlier and earlier,” notes Corporal Philippe Gravel, investigator at the National Center Against Child Exploitation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). “They often don’t have supervision. So they are easily approachable by offenders. » In cases of sextortion, he and his colleagues see victims as young as 12 or 13 years old. For the exchange of intimate images, some victims are as young as 6 or 7 years old, deplores Philippe Gravel.

René Morin notes the same trend. Studies conducted by his organization show that predators have a growing appetite for younger victims, “even babies.”

More screen time

How can we explain such an increase in cases, when children and adolescents have long been back in school?

The answer has several parts.

First, screen consumption habits developed during confinement never returned to normal.

The growing popularity of online games also offers a new hunting ground for malicious people. “The offenders will play these games to approach young people, then gain their trust. And eventually the conversations will migrate to other media. It is from there that the grooming will be done to obtain the images and videos,” said the police officer.

Add to that the fact that predators are better than ever with technology. “The numbers were almost doomed to increase,” says René Morin. Abusers who are in their 20s or early 30s are more tech savvy than their predecessors. They didn’t have the same learning curve. They already master [les outils] when they fall into this universe. »

Finally, and here is where there is good news, the awareness-raising made by the police and the organizations fighting against the web giants is starting to bear fruit. Companies are quicker to denounce. And thanks to technological advances, they have an easier time identifying the images circulating on their platforms.

“The ways of reporting have improved, as have the ways of detecting. And naturally, the accessibility of young people on the internet. All this means [les cas] are increasing,” summarizes Corporal Philippe Gravel.

The solution ? Prevention, replies the police officer. “It’s the same advice we give all the time. When young people are on social media or on the computer, they must be in a supervised place. Computers in rooms at 6-7 years old, that’s where they get approached. We hope that one day, by repeating, [le message] will pass. There is no miracle solution, it’s really prevention. »

For René Morin, the key is to legislate. “The numbers continue to show how much governments need to invest and Canada is lagging behind. »

He gives the example of a law about to be adopted in the United Kingdom which forces web companies, under penalty of very steep fines, to put in place mechanisms to detect and eliminate child pornography material that circulates. on their platforms. Social networks and encrypted messaging platforms will be subject to this law. “We would like Canada to follow suit. What other data do we need to see that we have a problem, and a real one? »