Minister Blaney launches next phase of anti-cyberbullying campaign

News Release

Campaign to raise awareness among youth of cyberbullying and legal consequences

February 3, 2014 - Montreal

The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, today launched the second phase of the national anti-cyberbullying public awareness campaign, StopHatingOnline, to raise awareness of the impact and serious consequences of cyberbullying.

The second phase of the campaign is aimed at youth to encourage them to take action to prevent and report cyberbullying, and to raise awareness of the potential legal consequences of sharing intimate images without consent. It includes advertising on television, online, and in cinemas. Through this national public awareness campaign, the Harper Government is taking strong action to combat cyberbullying.

Addressing cyberbullying requires a comprehensive approach by all levels of government, educators, non-governmental organizations, police, parents and youth. The Government of Canada will continue to work with all partners to help children and youth combat cyberbullying.

Quick Facts

Bill C-13, Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, was introduced November 20, 2013. This legislation would make it a criminal offence to distribute intimate images without the consent of the person depicted.
The Government is also supporting the development of a number of school-based projects to prevent bullying, as part of $10 million in funding that was committed in 2012 towards new crime prevention projects.
Other important projects that the Government supports to address cyberbullying include:
- the RCMP’s Centre for Youth Crime Prevention, which offers resources, such as fact sheets, lesson plans and interactive learning tools, to youth, parents, police officers and educators on bullying and cyberbullying; and
- the Canadian Centre for Child Protection’s Cybertip.ca and NeedHelpNow.ca websites, which Canadians can use to report online sexual exploitation of children and seek help from exploitation resulting from the non-consensual sharing of sexual images.

Quotes

“Cyberbullying is harmful to young Canadians across the country, and has led to tragic consequences in some situations. Our Government is tackling the issue of cyberbullying by providing youth with the knowledge that their actions can have serious consequences and, in some cases, may even amount to criminal activity.”
. The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

“Education and awareness among youth and parents is critical to addressing the growing issue of cyberbullying. The Government of Canada’s investment in education and prevention reinforces the important role we all play in promoting safe and respectful online connections among youth.”
Lianna McDonald, Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

“We are pleased to see that our Government is dedicated and committed to protecting our youth against all forms of violence. Today, the issue of cyberbullying is of growing concern and, in the past few months, we have witnessed first-hand the devastating consequences not only on the families but society itself. It is important to sensitize the public regarding this issue. It is imperative that we provide adults, educators and youth with the necessary tools, resources and support should they ever find themselves having to deal with such a situation. Most importantly, we need to prevent these incidents from ever occurring.”
Pina Arcamone, Director General, Missing Children’s Network

“The message for children and parents is that cyberbullying is not ‘child’s play’ and can affect anyone whether they are strong, confident or not. Rehtaeh was a normal teen with high grades and great expectations. Once she became the ‘target’ of harassment via texting and Facebook (after her photo was shared), within days she changed and never fully recovered from the isolation and humiliation. When a person is the ‘target’ of such harassment and is labeled, it diminishes the fact that the person is a human being with feelings and the behaviour of sending awful messages becomes justified.”
Leah Parsons, mother of bullying victim Rehteah Parsons

Associated Links

Contacts

Jean-Christophe de Le Rue
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
613-991-2924

Media Relations
Public Safety Canada
613-991-0657

Follow Get Cyber Safe (@GetCyberSafe) on Twitter.

For more information, please visit the website canada.ca/StopHatingOnline.

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Minister Blaney launches next phase of anti-cyberbullying campaign

News Release

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