Canadian Teens & Technology-Facilitated Harms: Exploring Teens' Experiences of Harm and the Platforms Where it Happens

This report presents findings from 25 focus groups with 146 young people aged 13 to 18 from five Canadian provinces and territories: Alberta, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, and Yukon. These focus groups were conducted by the DIY: Digital Safety research team and explored technology-facilitated harms experienced by Canadian teens who use social media platforms, video games, and other online services.

Despite growing evidence that technology-facilitated harms are highly prevalent in young people’s lives, much of what we know about these harms comes from or is influenced by adult perspectives, policy debates, or media reports. We know relatively little about how young people themselves make sense of these harms, where these
harms occur, and how they feel about the technologies they use every day. This report, therefore, explores the types of technology-facilitated harms that young people experience and the platforms on which they occur.