Press Releases

View our latest press releases and access our press release archives.

New research on youth and cyberbullying released for Pink Shirt Day

Ottawa, ON (Feb. 21, 2023) - New research conducted during the pandemic by MediaSmarts found 32% of young Canadians ages nine to 17 have experienced online meanness and cruelty, 49% have witnessed it, and 17% have engaged in this behaviour.

Data Privacy Week: New research shows youth are more concerned about their online privacy than ever

January 24, 2023 - MediaSmarts is releasing new research today, during Data Privacy Week, which shows that youth are more aware than ever of privacy concerns online and want to take steps to protect their own privacy, but they don’t always know how. The research found that:

Almost half of Canadian youth say they see racist or sexist content online often

New research conducted during the pandemic by MediaSmarts found almost half of Canadian youth (47%) ages 12 to 17 see racist or sexist content online at least once a week.

These findings are shared in MediaSmarts’ new Encountering Harmful and Discomforting Content Online report, which is the second in a series of reports in the latest phase of Young Canadians in a Wireless World, a national survey of 1,058 youth ages 9 to 17 conducted in Autumn 2021.

New research reveals the online lives of youth during the pandemic

Ottawa, ON - November 3, 2022 - New research conducted during the pandemic by MediaSmarts found that close to nine in 10 Canadian youth (86%) ages nine to 11 have an account on at least one platform that requires users to be 13 or older, and almost half of young people are worried they spend too much time online.

Media Literacy Week 2022 kicks off, bringing with it the first-ever Digital Citizen Day

Canada’s 17th annual Media Literacy Week starts today and it’s an opportunity to put the spotlight on digital media literacy, and how essential it is that we all know how to use, understand and engage with the digital media we use every day.

Announcing the launch of a new Digital Citizen Day

September 1, 2022 – People are now spending almost 30% of their days online as a global average. We are living our lives in spaces like Instagram and Twitter but we’re not always conscious of the impact of our actions online.  

New platform helps youth push back when they see hate online 

May 18, 2022 – Ottawa 

Media Literacy Week 2021: Today’s digital citizens need digital literacy skills

October 20, 2021 - Canadians are spending more time online during the pandemic and this year’s

New Canadian research shows youth are thinking critically about the impacts of artificial intelligence

April 6, 2021

OTTAWA – A new Canadian report from MediaSmarts, Canada’s not-for-profit centre for digital literacy, calls for more algorithmic literacy tools and resources which will give youth the knowledge they need to protect themselves and their information online.

MediaSmarts Launches New Online Course for Teachers

OTTAWA – MediaSmarts, Canada’s not-for-profit centre for digital literacy, has launched a new free, self-directed online course for in-service and pre-service teachers and other educators.

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