January 23,2026
RED FM News Desk
Disturbing new report from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) shows a sharp rise in extreme online violence targeting children; particularly girls, on social media and messaging platforms.
Between June 2022 and December 2025, C3P-operated platforms Cybertip.ca and NeedHelpNow.ca received 127 reports involving extreme forms of online abuse. More than half of those reports were filed in the last 12 months alone. The number of cases rose steadily from five in 2022 to 70 in 2025 signaling a rapidly escalating problem.
The reports involved 75 child victims, 84 per cent of whom were girls where gender was known. Most victims were teenagers, with the youngest reported victim 11 years old.
C3P says the abuse typically involves coercive tactics, including threats to distribute intimate images, blackmail, and doxing, to pressure victims into self-harm, sexual or degrading acts, disordered eating behaviors, and other acts of violence.
Discord was the most frequently cited platform, appearing in 80 reports, aligning with public warnings issued by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police about violent online groups targeting youth.
C3P reports it has provided direct support to nearly 60 children and families, referred more than 110 cases to law enforcement, issued nearly 40 notices to online platforms and continues to call for stronger online safety regulations to better protect children in digital spaces.
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