British Columbia Premier David Eby speaks during a news conference in Surrey, B.C., Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VANCOUVER – Premier David Eby says social media companies can’t be let “off the hook” after two B.C. teens died by suicide shortly after falling victim to online sextortion scams.
Eby’s comments came one day after Surrey RCMP announced a man in Nigeria has been arrested and charged in one of those cases following a lengthy international investigation.
Police did not confirm the boy’s name, but said his “sudden” death last February led to the discovery he had been a victim of “financial sextortion.”
Mounties told reporters the online interaction between the boy and the suspect lasted only minutes.
Eby told an unrelated news conference that the province intends to hold technology companies accountable, but that will take time, so it’s working to educate parents and children to protect themselves against sextortion schemes.
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection, which says it receives 70 reports of sextortion to its tip line each week, has also been calling for accountability from the technology industry, saying in a news release last week that it has failed to protect citizens from online harms.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2024.
