Public Safety Canada Webinar Series 2026
Combatting Online Child Sexual Exploitation

Introduction

Public Safety Canada (PS) leads the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet (the Strategy), launched in 2004, in collaboration with Justice Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P). As part of its ongoing efforts under the Strategy, Public Safety Canada (PS) delivers an annual webinar series on combatting online child sexual exploitation (OCSE).

In 2026, Public Safety hosted a two-part webinar series:

• Webinar 1: Emerging Threats and New Technologies
• Webinar 2: Navigating Risks in Online Gaming

The objectives of these webinars were to:

• Discuss emerging threats, such as violent extremism and the link to OCSE;
• Highlight new technology that support combatting this crime; and
• Share information on best practices and lessons learned to help prevent harms to children online and how to foster positive behaviours in online gaming environments.

Webinar 1: Emerging Threats and New Technology in Combatting Online Child Sexual Exploitation (January 20, 2026)

Overview

Webinar 1 examined the evolving and increasingly complex landscape of online child sexual exploitation (OCSE), with a focus on emerging threats, converging online harms, and the impact of new technologies.

A key focus was how online child sexual exploitation (OCSE) and nihilistic violent extremism (NVE) overlap online. Loosely connected online spaces—often called the "edgesphere"—can make harmful behaviour seem more normal and help it spread across many platforms. These spaces can pull in young people through adjacent interests such as gaming, fan communities, and online groups focused on self-harm.

From a prevention and intervention perspective, speakers emphasized that those at risk often share underlying vulnerabilities, such as social isolation and unmet needs for belonging and identity, highlighting the importance of early, supportive, and holistic responses.

Finally, the webinar underscored how advances in technology—particularly artificial intelligence (AI)—are reshaping both the threat and the response, requiring more sophisticated detection approaches that combine technological innovation with human expertise.

Presentation 1: The OCSE/Violent Extremism Nexus in Canada

Marc-André Argentino, PhD, Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence, Public Safety Canada

• Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE) is not a traditional form of extremism; it blends elements of online subcultures, harassment networks, and extremist behaviours without a clear ideology, making it highly fluid and difficult to counter.
• At its core, this ecosystem exploits vulnerabilities in youth—particularly, the need for belonging, identity, and connection.
• Loosely connected online spaces often made up of youth whose life, identity, and social interactions are almost entirely centered around the internet and social media, can overlap and reinforce harmful behaviours.
• Individuals are rarely entering these spaces directly; instead, they are drawn in through adjacent communities such as gaming, online fan groups, true crime, or self-harm content.
• Common tactics include grooming, coercion, sexual extortion, doxxing (i.e., a form of cyberbullying that uses sensitive or secret information to harm or exploit targeted individuals), and swatting (i.e., a criminal prank to trick law enforcement into sending a heavily armed police unit to a victim's home), often combined in sophisticated ways.
• There is a troubling cycle where victims can be manipulated into becoming perpetrators themselves.
• The scale of harm is significant, with international reach and a growing number of incidents affecting victims physically, psychologically, and emotionally.

Presentation 2: Extreme Sexual Violence Against Children Online – An Analysis

Alexandra Catanese, Manager, Cybertip.ca Operations, The Canadian Centre for Child Protection

• The Canadian Centre for Child Protection defines "extreme violence" as situations where children are coerced into harmful or degrading acts, including self-harm, abuse, or other forms of exploitation.
• Since tracking began in 2022, reports of this type of harm have increased significantly, pointing to a rapidly evolving threat environment.
• Victims are most often girls, and cases have been identified across Canada, with a notable concentration in Ontario.
• Offenders are primarily operating on widely used platforms, with Discord, a gaming-adjacent forum, standing out as a key space for grooming and luring.
• Cybertip.ca plays a central role in responding by triaging reports, working with law enforcement and platforms, and connecting victims to support services.
• Efforts focus on stopping the abuse and exploitation and on supporting victims and survivors throughout the disclosure and recovery process.

Presentation 3: Practitioner Perspective on Nihilistic Violent Extremism

Hana Hadzifejzovic, Project ReSet & T4C, Team Lead, John Howard Society of Ottawa

• Project ReSet offers a hands-on, multidisciplinary approach to supporting individuals who are at risk of, or already involved in, violent extremism.
• The program provides intensive, individualized case management and wrap-around support, recognizing that each case is shaped by a unique set of vulnerabilities and circumstances.
• Many of the individuals supported share common risk factors, including social isolation, heavy online engagement, mental health challenges, and exposure to harmful ideologies.
• Underlying these behaviours are unmet needs—particularly around belonging, identity, and a sense of control.
• Interventions focus on building core life skills, such as emotional regulation, critical thinking, and healthy communication.
• Practitioners face real challenges, including exposure to traumatic material, safety concerns, and limited resources.
• Prevention efforts highlight the importance of digital literacy, safe online behaviours, and stronger support systems around youth.

Presentation 4: Project Athena: Leveraging AI to detect unknown CSAM

Frances McAuley, Director of Product - Trust and Safety, Resolver

• The scale and complexity of online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) are increasing rapidly, driven in part by new technologies such as generative AI. There is a clear shift from individuals simply consuming content to actively creating and distributing it, including entirely new forms of abuse imagery.
• Traditional detection methods, such as hash-matching (i.e., automated technique that identifies content by comparing their unique digital signatures ("hashes") against a database of known, problematic content) are no longer sufficient, as they can only identify previously known content. Athena is designed to address this gap by combining AI-based detection of unknown content with traditional methods and human review.
• The system uses image-analysis software trained on trusted data so it can make more accurate decisions and avoid flagging things by mistake. It also categorizes content by severity, allowing platforms to prioritize the most urgent cases.
• The solution is designed to integrate easily into existing systems and operate at the scale required by modern platforms.
• Overall, the approach reflects a broader shift toward combining technology and human expertise to manage online harms at scale.

Resources

Policy, Strategy & Government Leadership

• National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet (Public Safety Canada)
• Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence (Public Safety Canada)

Research, Threat Analysis & Thought Leadership

• Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P)
• Cybertip.ca
• Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)
• National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)
  

Technology, Detection & Industry Solutions

• Project Arachnid
• Resolver
• Kroll – Risk Advisory Services
• Project Athena (Resolver / Vigil AI capability)
  

Webinar 2: Navigating Potential Risks for Children in the Online Gaming Environment (February 17, 2026)

Overview

Webinar 2 focused on how online gaming spaces are changing, recognizing that they can be positive places for connection but can also create new risks related to online child sexual exploitation. Building on the broader threat landscape explored in the 2025 webinar series, this webinar examined how gaming platforms—now deeply embedded in the daily lives of children and youth—can serve as key points of interaction, socialization, and, in some cases, exploitation.

A central theme across the webinar was the importance of understanding context—not only what platforms young people are using, but how and why they are engaging within them.

Overall, Webinar 2 highlighted that online gaming environments are not inherently harmful, but require intentional design, informed engagement, and shared responsibility to ensure they remain safe and supportive spaces for children and youth.

Presentation 1: Understanding the Online Gaming Environment

Matt Soeth, Executive Director, Thriving in Games Group; Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov, Head of Parental Advocacy, Roblox

• The concept of "digital thriving" reframes gaming environments as spaces that can actively support well-being, confidence, and skill development—not just entertainment.
• Positive gaming experiences are often characterized by players feeling good about themselves, building relationships, and developing competence over time.
• Engagement from parents and caregivers is key, playing alongside young people and showing interest in their experiences helps build trust and opens the door to meaningful conversations.
• Rather than focusing only on screen time, a more holistic approach is to assess if a child's online activities are supporting their well-being:
  • Is the child sleeping well?
  • Are they maintaining relationships and responsibilities?
  • Are they behaving respectfully online and offline?
• Safety conversations should be continuous, not one-time interventions, and should evolve as children grow and gain independence.

Presentation 2: Gaming and Healthy Masculinity – Encouraging Boys to Seek Help

Francesco Cecon, Head of Programme for the Global Boys Initiative; Julieanne Marie Tabilog, Gender and Online Gaming Associate; Guillaume Landry, Executive Director (ECPAT International)

• Online gaming is one of the primary social spaces where boys and young men interact, making it a critical environment for shaping behaviours and norms.
• These spaces can reinforce rigid ideas of masculinity, which may discourage boys from seeking help or expressing vulnerability.
• There is a tension between industry priorities (e.g., business and engagement) and social outcomes such as safety and well-being.
• At the same time, rights-based organizations often lack insight into how to effectively influence game design and platform operations.
• The presentation highlighted opportunities to intentionally design games that:
  • Promote empathy, cooperation, and positive interactions
  • Normalize help-seeking behaviours
  • Reduce stigma around discussing harm, bullying, or exploitation
• Practical design considerations include:
  • Making safety tools more visible and accessible within gameplay
  • Using clear, child-friendly language to communicate rules and expectations
  • Embedding supportive prompts or check-ins during gameplay
• Overall, gaming environments are seen not only as a risk space but also as a powerful opportunity to shift norms and support healthier behaviours among boys and young men.

Presentation 3: Supporting Positive Mental Health in Gaming

Dr. Rachel Kowert, Research Psychologist & Founder of Psychgeist

• Much of the public narrative around gaming is shaped by stereotypes (e.g., isolation, addiction, antisocial behaviour), but research does not support many of these assumptions.
• Evidence shows no causal link between video games and real-world violence, and only minimal short-term increases in aggression that do not translate into harmful behaviour.
• There is also no strong evidence that games themselves are inherently addictive; problematic play is more often linked to underlying issues such as stress, anxiety, or depression.
• On the positive side, gaming is associated with strong social benefits:
  • Many players form meaningful friendships online
  • Online relationships are often as significant as offline ones
• The overall research suggests that the benefits of gaming outweigh the harms, when used in healthy ways.
• To support positive outcomes, the presentation introduced a practical framework:
  • Content: What games are being played (age-appropriate vs. developmentally appropriate)
  • Context: Why and how games are being used (e.g., social connection vs. escape)
  • Communication: With whom players are interacting and how
  • Control (or engagement): The role of parental guidance and boundaries
• A key emphasis was placed on open communication and active engagement, rather than restrictive or purely control-based approaches.

Resources

Policy, Strategy & Research

• National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet (Public Safety Canada)
• American Psychological Association – Video Game Research

Industry Guidance, Tools & Frameworks

• ECPAT International (main site)
• ECPAT's Nerfing Gender Roles and Rigid Masculinity Guide
• GamerSafer
• Thriving in Games Group (TIGG)

Platform Safety & Parental Resources

• Roblox Safety & Safety Policies and Resources
• Roblox Parent Guide

Mental Health & Well-being in Gaming

• Psychgeist (Rachel Kowert)