Online abuse affects one in six school-aged children, according to a recent World Health Organization survey of Europe, Asia and Canada. This statistic is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to online abuse, though, as this issue affects more than just school-aged children.

Other reports have found that over 80 per cent of Canadian undergraduate students have suffered at least one form of online abuse and 95 per cent of anti-violence workers have worked on cases where technology was a contributing factor.

These types of abuse are known as technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV). It’s the term researchers and activists use to talk about the sexualized and intimately intrusive side of online abuse. TFSV encompasses non-consensual sexual imagery like deepfakes and unsolicited dick pics, gendered harassment and cyberstalking, as well as misogynistic narratives spread through social media.

TFSV can be a traumatizing and isolating experience. It is also one that disproportionately affects women, children, racialized, queer, and neuro- and gender-diverse people.

Recent online attacks against a transgender teacher in British Columbia are just one example of how this unfolds. A teacher in Pitt Meadows, B.C., filed a human rights complaint in June after they were sent online messages of hate and violence after being doxxed by a social media account.

And, worryingly,........

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