TORONTO – Rogers Communications has produced two public service announcements that aim to raise awareness for Cybertip.ca, the national tip line for reporting the on line sexual exploitation of children.
Each PSA will air across Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland on specialty channels, as well as, Rogers Television and TV Guide.
Cybertip.ca is a centralized web portal for receiving and addressing reports from the public regarding child pornography, luring, child sex tourism, and children who are exploited through prostitution. It also provides the public with information, referrals and other resources to help Canadians keep their children safe while on the Internet.
"It is unfortunate that organizations such as Cybertip.ca are still necessary," said Edward Rogers, president of Rogers Cable, in a press release. "By supporting Cybertip.ca, Rogers is helping to increase Canadians’ awareness about this issue and encouraging them to stand-up and put an end to child abuse."
"Cybertip.ca is the neighbourhood watch of the Internet," added Lianna McDonald, executive director of Cybertip.ca. "We need all the support we can get to stop these crimes against children, and through Rogers Cable’s help we can reach even more Canadians. These PSAs will carry an important message, and we hope will encourage more people to get involved."
Since Cybertip.ca launched in September 2002, over 11,500 reports of online child sexual exploitation have been filed. Seventy-five per cent of that number has been reported since the national tip line began operating in January 2005. Eighteen arrests have been made since its inception and over 1,000 web sites hosting illegal images have been shut down.
In addition to being a major sponsor of Cybertip.ca, Rogers is also a member of the Canadian Coalition against Internet Child Exploitation (CCAICE), is a multi-sector group of industry, government, non-government and law enforcement stakeholders from across the country. This organization also helps to combat child exploitation on the Internet while continuing to preserve and promote use of the Internet for the free flow of legitimate and wide-ranging information, entertainment and educational content.
