In today’s onlife world, concerns about online safety for our children loom large. With concerning issues such as hate, cyberbullying, exploitation, and sextortion, parents and caregivers are understandably anxious about how to protect their children online. Recently, there has been a lot of talk about Bills and laws aimed at addressing these issues, such as Bill C-63 that was just introduces here in Canada. (1) However, it’s essential for parents and caregivers to understand that while legislation can play an important role, especially when it comes to regulating tech and social media platforms, it’s not the panacea or silver bullet that some believe it to be when it comes to the prevention of online harms. (2)(3)
To support this thesis, here are some crucial points for consideration specific to Bill C-63 as it presently stands now:
- An online bill or law, like Bill C-63, is reactive rather than proactive when it comes to online harms. It means that these measures are designed in most cases to respond to incidents after they’ve occurred, rather than preventing them from happening in the first place.
- Bill C-63 aims to address publicly-facing content, leaving private messages largely untouched (Section 6). This exclusion of private messaging means that a significant portion of online interactions, where grooming, exploitation, and other less-than-desirable online behaviour often occur, falls outside the scope of Bill C-63.
- Even within publicly-facing content, social media services are not required under Bill C-63 to actively search for harmful content (Section 7). While they are obligated to implement measures and design features to address harmful content when reported, the lack of proactive content searching poses a significant challenge in effectively combating online threats such as sextortion or other criminal behaviour unless reported first – again reactionary.
We continue to believe that the foundation of online safety lies in the active engagement of parents or caregivers with their children. (4)(5)(6) Regardless of legislative measures that have been put in place, without this crucial foundation, laws, regulations, and education initiatives will fall short in protecting children from online risks. The strength of a triad is its base – without a strong foundation the triad will collapse. We argue that the active engagement of parents and caregivers in their child’s onlife world is both the keystone and the foundation to keeping our kids “safer” – without it, laws, regulations, and education collapse.
As an example, sextortion is a particularly troubling and ever-increasing form of online exploitation. Sextortion typically follows a pattern where the offender initially establishes a friendly and caring rapport with the victim on a public-facing social media platform. The online conversation then transitions to private and often encrypted messaging, where it becomes sexual in nature, often involving requests for nude pictures or video. Once the images are sent, the offender often demands more pictures or money, threatening to distribute the images if their demands are not met. (7)
While Bill C-63 may address some aspects of publicly facing content, it’s evident that it falls short in effectively addressing the complexities of how sextortion and similar online threats are often committed privately. The exclusion of private messaging features in Bill C-63, and the lack of proactive content searching provisions, leave significant gaps for it to offer any kind of real online protection.
Unfortunately, in our work, we have found that a common scenario posing a significant risk to teens’ safety occurs when parents or caregivers allow their children unrestricted access to internet-enabled devices in the privacy of their bedrooms, unsupervised. Whether it’s a smartphone, laptop, gaming console, or webcam, the repercussions of unsupervised access can be severe, sometimes even leading to tragic outcomes such as suicide. How does Bill C-63 prevent this ?– the answer, it can’t, and it doesn’t.
Unfortunately, this scenario is far from uncommon. Many parents may feel overwhelmed by the complexities of monitoring their teens’ online activities or may simply trust their children to make responsible choices. However, the reality is that even well-intentioned teens can find themselves in dangerous situations online on platforms where safety and security by design were built in, often without fully understanding the risks involved. Again, how does Bill C-63 prevent this ? – the answer, it can’t, and it doesn’t.
Parents and caregivers need to recognize the critical role they play in their teens’ online safety and security. While laws and regulations can offer essential guidelines and impose regulatory obligations and substantial fines on social media and tech companies for noncompliance, they cannot substitute the watchful supervision and guidance provided by a parent or caregiver. By providing youth with the right age-appropriate technology at the right time, combined with ongoing digital literacy education, setting appropriate boundaries, and actively monitoring their child’s internet usage, parents and caregivers can help mitigate the risks associated with unsupervised online access. This is not something that any Bill or law can do.
Again, while Bill C-63 will provide a level of needed regulatory guidance and responsibility on social media and tech platforms that has been woefully missing in Canada, foundationally it cannot replace the active involvement of parents and caregivers in their teens’ digital lives. By prioritizing parental supervision, education, and communication, parents can help protect their teens from the potential dangers of the online world, empowering them to navigate it in a safer and more responsible way no matter what the platform. Again, something that Bill C-63 or even the criminal code can’t do.
We agree and fully support the fact that while legislative measures like Bill C-63 play an important and needed role in regulating social media and tech vendors specific to harm mitigation, and their response to online harms when reported, however, they are not a panacea, silver bullet, or effective tool when it comes to the prevention of online harms. The ultimate responsibility for protecting children online continues to be parents and caregivers. By fostering open communication, providing ongoing education and support, and reasonably monitoring the online activities of their kids, parents can empower their children to navigate the onlife world in a safer and more responsible way!
Digital Food For Thought
The White Hatter
References:
3/ https://thewhitehatter.ca/blog/you-cant-childproof-the-internet-through-legislation/
5/ https://thewhitehatter.ca/blog/a-transformational-approach-to-parenting-in-todays-onlife-world/
