Teens may have trouble putting down their phones, but many want more restrictions on their use of social media, to help keep them safe from online harms.
That's one of the takeaways of a two-year, multi-nation study of peer-to-peer sexual violence online, led by Kathleen Manion, program head of the Master of Arts in Justice Studies Program and the Graduate Certificate in Transforming Child Protection to Wellbeing at Royal Roads University.
Instead of asking the experts for solutions, Manion and her research team asked the youth themselves about the problems they're seeing online, and their ideas to make digital spaces safer.
It's still rare for policymakers to reach out to young people to understand their experience online. Their participation is critical.
Manion and her team worked with youth aged 12-18, in Canada, Albania and Kenya, to get a global perspective of the issue. Through surveys and workshops, study participants described their encounters with cyberbullying, body shaming and revenge porn.
Manion's study comes at a unique time. When she first launched her survey two years ago, it didn't include a single question about Artificial Intelligence. But the technology is advancing and globalizing so quickly, the research team had to revise its approach to reflect youth's changing reality online.
"It is terrifying," says Manion. "A whole range of additional dangers are showing up for young people."
In the past, people could protect themselves by not sharing intimate images. Now, AI can be used to create fake nude photos and videoes of anyone, she explains. "All of the groups of kids we were talking to had experiences within their network."
Online sexual violence can lead to low self image, social isolation and even suicidal ideation, says Manion. But while the problems online are numerous, so too are the solutions proposed by the young people.
"They had fantastic ideas," says Manion.
For instance, youth identified their own responsibility to inform themselves and to support their peers. They also called for more supervision by teachers and parents and said families need better tools to talk [to their kids] about this sensitive topic. Study participants wanted mandatory education about online safety, and even legislation setting a minimum age to use social media while also callingon tech giants to do better when it comes to detecting and removing harmful content. Most youth said they were more likely to report online sexual violence to a trusted adult than to report online, because they had little faith it would do any good.
Manion's research was funded by the Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund.
"They are really keen to hear from young people," she says, adding her study results feed directly into Google, Facebook and X, among others, to help them build better safety features.
"What stands out for me is that young people really emphasized that everyone has a role in supporting a safer online space," Manion adds.
Learn more about the Master of Arts in Justice Studies Program.
