OTTAWA, ON / AGILITYPR.NEWS / October 30, 2026 / Humane Canada welcomes the advancement of the Safe Social Media Act to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage yesterday, but notes that while the bill does mention violent and extremist content, it fails to include specific provisions for animal harm.  

As Canada’s voice for animal welfare, we have been advocating for improved animal protections as content involving animal torture and abuse posted online has substantially increased. Our experience has been that unless animal harm is explicitly included in legislation, it will be ignored.  

Animal abuse has emerged as a red flag in the online radicalization of Canadian youth, according to new research from Humane Canada. Our study, released earlier this year and believed to be the first of its kind in this country, demonstrates how violent online networks use animal cruelty to groom, desensitize, and manipulate young people. 

Experts interviewed for the report describe a troubling rise in online misogyny and extreme violence, with algorithms amplifying increasingly harmful content. Boys and young men are frequent targets, but the findings suggest that girls and young women are increasingly affected, both as victims and, in some cases, as participants.  

Canadian law does not specifically prohibit the possession or distribution of non-sexual animal cruelty images. A recent case illustrates the gap: in R v Mrozik, 2025 MBPC 54, an offender was convicted of possessing child sexual abuse material, while investigators also recovered thousands of other images and videos, including depictions of animal cruelty. No charges were laid in relation to the animal cruelty images, despite animal cruelty itself being a Criminal Code offence. 

Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act, has addressed part of this gap with a new offence for representations of bestiality. However, broader concerns about the possession and distribution of animal torture and abuse images remain, leaving children and animals at risk. Humane Canada is calling for explicit protections against this content, which can be used to groom children and desensitize them to violence. 

“Protecting animals also protects people. This is an animal welfare issue as well as a child protection and public safety issue,” said Kerri Thomson, who manages Humane Canada’s Justice and Legislative Affairs program. “We hope that Canada’s Safe Social Media Act can be amended to reflect that.” 

Access the Report 

A summary of key findings of the report, Beyond Promising Practices: Examining Root Causes of Online Radicalization, is available now in English and French, with the full report accessible through Humane Canada’s website.  

Quick Facts 

• 80% of survey respondents reported that rhetoric from boys and young men has become more violent and aggressive over the past five years. (Humane Canada, 2026) 
• 73% of respondents indicated that girls and young women are also exhibiting violent behaviour online, pointing to broader shifts in online interaction dynamics. (Humane Canada, 2026) 
• Statistics Canada: Despite a 16% decrease from 2023 to 2024, the rate of online child sexual exploitation has risen by 347% since 2014 (Statistics Canada, 2026) 
• Among adults who actively sought child sexual abuse material, 49% also encountered or searched for other harmful or illegal content, including animal cruelty, self-harm and suicide, death and murder, and gore. (Protect Children Finland & Ofcom, 2026) 
• 39% of these respondents reported that online platform algorithms recommended harmful or sexual content they had not actively searched for, underscoring concerns about automated content distribution. (Protect Children Finland & Ofcom, 2026)