Online Gaming, Online Harms: Supportive Strategies for Building Resilience
This Resource Spotlight was presented on September 22, 2026.
Supporting young people online begins with understanding the digital spaces where they learn, connect, and play. Online gaming is one of the most influential of these digital communities, offering opportunities for connection and belonging while also presenting unique challenges. By better understanding these spaces, caring adults can build the knowledge and confidence to help young people navigate online harms.
Are you concerned about what young people are experiencing in online gaming spaces? Explore two new free, online, on-demand resources from the Christchurch Call Foundation, created for caring adults to build knowledge, resilience and confidence to support and protect young people against online harms in gaming spaces.
Level Up Safely! is designed for parents, educators, practitioners, and caregivers, offering an understanding of the world of online gaming, the harms that can happen, and practical tools to respond including conversation guides and a trusted partners directory. Digital Bystanders Moderator Training supports online community moderators and trust and safety professionals to foster safer gaming communities using concrete bystander intervention strategies.
This initiative is part of the Christchurch Call Foundation’s Catalyst project which addresses the intersection of online violent misogyny, technology-facilitated gender-based violence, and violent extremism. Our resources are localised for a Canadian audience, and available in English and French.
Recording
Learning Objectives
Following this Resource Spotlight, participants will:
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Understand the intersections between violent misogyny, radicalisation, and hybrid harms that target young people in online gaming spaces
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Discover strategies to help build resilience to online harms, including our digital bystander intervention framework
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Explore resources from the Christchurch Call Foundation designed for parents, educators, guardians, caregivers, community moderators, and trust and safety professionals
Speakers
Emily Thompson is an expert on the exploitation of digital platforms, social media, and gaming spaces by violent extremists and terrorists. As an experienced researcher and program director, she works to build understanding and resilience against hateful and harmful ideologies that threaten civil society. Emily combines subject matter expertise in terrorist and violent extremist content with curriculum and program development to design effective, innovative, educational programming. She is a Principal Strategic Advisor for the Christchurch Call Foundation, leading the development of a resource hub for caring adults to build understanding of online harms in digital gaming spaces, with actionable strategies to support young people to navigate these areas in safer ways.
Dr. Elizabeth Newbury is a gaming expert consulting with Christchurch Call Foundation's Catalyst project, where she co-authored research and bystander intervention trainings for digital leaders. She is also an award-winning game producer and globally recognized expert in leveraging technology—especially games—for social impact. Previously, she directed the Wilson Center's Serious Games Initiative (2017–2025) and was a Visiting Scholar at American University's Game Center. Newbury earned her BA from Bryn Mawr College in anthropology and Masters and PhD from the Cornell University Department of Communication, where she studied emerging new media technologies and the sociology of gaming audiences.
All our resources are open-access and can be shared (e.g., linked, downloaded and sent) or cited with credit. If you would like to adapt and/or edit, translate, or embed/upload our content on your website/training materials (e.g., Webinar video), please email us at gbvln@uwo.ca so that we can work together to do so.
