This PSA Proves Canada Is One of the Safest Places for Children - Unless They’re Online

NO FIXED ADDRESS has partnered with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection to raise awareness about the alarming increase in online child sexual exploitation in Canada*. The ‘Safe Spaces’ campaign alerts parents to the fact that nowhere is currently safe for a Canadian child - not their school, not their playground, not even their own bedroom - as soon as they’re online. 

The ‘Safe Spaces’ film features the mothers of six victims of online sexual exploitation, telling their kid’s stories from the same places they assumed their child would be safe. These courageous moms have not only suffered the nightmare of what happened to their children, they’ve suffered under the assumption by many Canadians that it is somehow their fault for not keeping their children safe. This is the preconception the ‘Safe Spaces’ campaign seeks to change. This can happen to anyone. Predators are everywhere online. And they’re targeting everyone. The campaign is urging Canadians to support the federal government’s Online Harms Bill, which would require social media companies to provide meaningful protection to children online. 

“These courageous moms chose to share their heart breaking stories to help Canadians understand why we desperately need legislation to protect our children from dangerous spaces online, just like we do offline,” said Lianna McDonald, executive director of C3P. “This is why we need safety regulations for the platforms kids use every day, as proposed in the Online Harms Bill.” 

“We were blown away by the courage of these moms for sharing their stories. As a parent, it’s terrifying to think that we let our kids online everyday while there’s currently so little protection in Canada. This is a wake up call to all parents that this can happen to anybody, anywhere.” said Alexis Bronstorph, chief creative officer at NO FIXED ADDRESS.

*Cybertip.ca saw a 27% increase in reports of online sexual exploitation last year (compared to the year before).