International child rights’ organization Plan International Canada released the findings of a global survey of 14,000 girls aged 15–25 in 22 countries including Canada, which showed that more than half (58 per cent), have been harassed or abused online. In Canada, the results are even higher at 62 per cent. The report, titled Free to be online? Girls’ and young women’s experiences of online harassment shows how significant social media is in young people’s lives and how online abuse disempowers girls by shutting them out of a space widely used for activism, entertainment, learning, and to keep in touch with friends and family.

The largest study of its kind, Plan International Canada’s research found that girls in high and low-income countries alike who use social media are routinely subjected to explicit messages, pornographic photos, cyberstalking and other distressing forms of abuse. The current reporting tools offered by social media platforms are not doing enough to prevent online harassment and abuse.

To deal with online harassment, 19 per cent of the girls surveyed in Canada stated that they would stop posting content that expresses their opinion. Eight per cent said they would quit the social media platform on which the harassment happened. Almost half of those surveyed (48 per cent) would choose to ignore the harassment, while 37 per cent would choose to report/block the harasser or increase their privacy settings.