the resource project
Understanding Online Risks
Keeping Children Safe Online
The internet is where children learn, play, connect, and create, but it can also expose them to risks. Important protections include an informed parent, open communication, and a child who knows they can always come to you for help.
Online Clues of Sexual Abuse
Online sexual abuse can happen through social media, livestreaming, messaging, gaming, video chat, or image-sharing platforms. You may notice that your child:
Quickly closes screens or hides conversations.
Uses a second or secret account.
Receives gifts, money, game credits, food deliveries, or new devices from an unknown person.
Communicates frequently with someone they have never met offline.
Moves conversations to private or encrypted platforms.
Is asked to keep an online friendship secret.
Becomes anxious when a message arrives.
Stays online late at night or uses devices secretly.
Receives requests for private photos, sexual images, or video calls.
Is threatened after sharing an image.
Suddenly deletes an account or avoids a favourite platform.
Appears frightened, ashamed, panicked, or desperate about something online.
Adults should tell children they can ask for help without automatically losing device privileges or being punished. If an adult sends sexual content to a child, requests sexual images, or sexualizes online communication, report the concern to Cybertip.ca.
10 Ways to Help Keep Your Child Safe
Keep the conversation open. Talk about online life as naturally as you ask about school, friends, or hobbies.
Let your child know they can tell you anything. If something goes wrong online, reassure them they will not get in trouble for asking for help.
Know where your child spends time online. Ask about their favourite games, apps, websites, and creators.
Use privacy settings. Review privacy settings together and keep accounts as private as possible.
Teach children to protect personal information. Never share a full name, address, school, passwords, phone number, or location with people online.
Remind them that people online are not always who they claim to be. Anyone can pretend to be someone else.
Talk about online grooming. Explain that someone who asks for secrets, gives gifts, offers special attention, or wants private conversations may not have safe intentions.
Keep devices in shared family spaces when possible. This allows younger children to receive guidance and support while using technology.
Set family technology expectations. Agree on age-appropriate rules for apps, gaming, social media, screen time, and downloading new programs.
Trust your instincts. If something online makes you or your child uncomfortable, take it seriously.
Teach Your Child These Five Safety Rules
I can always tell a trusted adult if something online makes me uncomfortable.
I never have to keep secrets from my parents or caregivers.
I don't share personal information or photos with people I don't know.
I can leave a game, chat, or video call at any time.
If someone asks me to keep a conversation secret, I will tell a trusted adult.
Watch for Warning Signs
Your child may need extra support if they suddenly:
Become secretive about their devices.
Delete messages frequently.
Receive gifts from someone online.
Spend excessive time chatting with one person.
Become anxious when asked about online activities.
Withdraw from family or friends.
Suddenly have new devices, money, or gift cards.
Become unusually upset when internet access is limited.
These behaviours do not necessarily mean a child is being exploited, but they are good reasons to start a calm, supportive conversation.
Understanding Sextortion and AI-Generated Images
The internet is changing rapidly, and children today face risks that did not exist just a few years ago.
One growing concern is sextortion—when someone threatens to share a sexual image or video unless a child sends more images, money, or complies with other demands.
Another emerging concern is AI-generated sexual images, sometimes called deepfakes. Artificial intelligence can now be used to create or manipulate realistic-looking sexual images of children, even when no original sexual image existed. A child's face may be placed onto another person's body or altered without their knowledge or consent.
These images may be used to:
embarrass or humiliate a child
bully or harass them
threaten or extort them
manipulate them into sending additional images
exploit them sexually
Children should know:
They are never responsible for someone else's decision to manipulate or create an image.
They should tell a trusted adult immediately if someone threatens to share, create, or edit an image of them.
They should never try to handle threats on their own.
If this happens:
Stay calm.
Reassure your child they are not in trouble.
Save messages or screenshots if it is safe to do so.
Report the incident to Cybertip.ca.
Contact police if there are threats, extortion, or concerns for your child's immediate safety.
If Something Happens
Stay calm.
Listen without judgment.
Believe your child.
Do not go through your child's phone or devices looking for evidence.
Save relevant messages, usernames or screenshots first, if it is safe to do so. Then stop responding, report the account or incident, and block the person.
If you believe a child is being sexually exploited online, report it to Cybertip.ca.
If a child is in immediate danger, call 911.
A Note on Digital Content
If the abuse involved digital content, exploitation, or online luring, report directly to Cybertip.ca, Canada's national tip line. In Ontario, a report to Cybertip.ca does not replace any legal duty to report concerns about a child in need of protection to a Children’s Aid Society. See [Do I Need to Report This?] for Ontario reporting requirements.
For digital exploitation, online luring, or image-based abuse: Report directly to Cybertip.ca,
Canada's national tip line. Reports are reviewed by trained analysts who coordinate with law enforcement across the country.
Remember: Technology can help protect children, but it cannot replace a trusting relationship. Children may find it easier to ask for help when they know they will be listened to, believed, and supported.
Online Safety: A Quick Check for Parents
You do not need to understand every app, game or platform your child uses. Staying curious, checking in regularly and keeping communication open can go a long way.
When your child begins using a new game, app or platform, take a few minutes to look at it together.
Things to check:
Does it have private messaging or chat?
Can strangers contact your child?
Can conversations move into private or disappearing messages?
Does it allow photos, videos or files to be shared?
Does it include livestreaming?
Is the platform moderated?
Can chat, messaging or other interactive features be turned off?
Are privacy and location settings appropriate?
Can other users see your child's real name, age, school or location?
Does the platform contain advertising or links that take children elsewhere?
Does your child know how to block and report another user?
Keep the Door Open
Technology settings matter, but your child's ability to come to you matters even more.
Make sure your child knows they can tell you if something uncomfortable, confusing or sexual happens online—even if they:
broke one of your online rules
talked to someone they weren't supposed to
clicked on something they shouldn't have
shared personal information
sent a photo or video
agreed to something and then changed their mind
are being threatened, pressured or blackmailed
are worried you will take their phone away
Consider saying:
“If something ever goes wrong online, you can come to me. Even if you broke a rule or made a mistake, we'll figure it out together.”
Fear of punishment can make it harder for a child to ask for help. Keeping communication open gives them somewhere to turn when they need you most.
FOR ADDITIONAL READING AND LISTENING:
• Parenting in the Online World — Canadian Centre for Child Protection
A practical Canadian guide for parents and caregivers about the risks young people encounter online, including online luring, sextortion, deepfakes and online sexual violence. It also provides guidance for talking with children and teens about what they're experiencing online.
Read Parenting in the Online World
• Safeguarding Children and Youth: Online Risks and Trends — Canadian Centre for Child Protection
A free 15-minute video for parents, caregivers and other adults that explains current online risks and practical strategies for helping keep children and youth safer online.
Watch Online Risks and Trends
• ProtectKidsOnline.ca — Canadian Centre for Child Protection
Designed specifically for parents, this Canadian resource provides age-specific information about children's online interests, emerging risks and practical strategies for safer online experiences.
• NeedHelpNow.ca — Canadian Centre for Child Protection
For situations where an online risk has already become a crisis. NeedHelpNow.ca supports youth affected by sextortion, online luring, non-consensual sharing of intimate images and other forms of online sexual violence, including practical help with image removal and next steps.
Visit NeedHelpNow.ca