NRL 2020: Erin Molan’s cutting bully takedown over Broncos Anthony Seibold rumours

Channel 9 star Erin Molan has launched into an emotional rant to outline a revolutionary approach to solve Australia’s bullying crisis.

Channel Nine host Erin Molan.

Channel 9 star Erin Molan has launched into an emotional rant to outline dramatic plans to revolutionise Australia’s strategy to combat online bullying.

Molan on Sunday stood up and demanded a shift in the way Australia has allowed cowardly trolls to attack people without serious repercussions.

Her passionate plea comes after the 36-year-old last week revealed some of the disgusting personal attacks she has received from anonymous cyber-bullies.

Molan last week also made a public show of support for under-fire Broncos coach Anthony Seibold, who is enduring his own cyber-bullying crisis after allegedly slanderous rumours were spread about him across the internet.

The Broncos coach has hired legal representation and European cybersecurity experts to track down the source of the rumours. His lawyer Dave Garratt has said a “prominent name” has become a person of interest in the investigation, with further reports indicating the origin of the smear campaign has links to the NRL.

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Now star sports presenter Molan has had enough.

She told Weekend Today on Sunday morning there must be real criminal punishments for cyber bullying.

In an extensive rant, Molan outlined her plan to combat bullying by changing the education provided in schools and the limited powers available to law enforcement agencies to police online trolling.

“I’ve been lobbying the government for probably over a year now on this topic,” Molan said.

“First of all, this isn’t about me. I’ve been the victim of some of the most horrific trolling and abuse online for the better part of a decade. I am essentially immune to it. I see it for what it is.

“This is about other people. This is about young people, this is about every Australian having the right to feel safe online.

Erin Molan was the victim of a bullying campaign following reports of her working relationship breakdown with Andrew Johns.

“I just think there’s real issues at the moment with what we are doing with this. I think the entire focus of campaigns at the moment, and when people go into schools, is on coping mechanisms for the victim.

“That is ridiculous. That doesn’t work. We’ve got to look at the punishments for the perpetrators and I think that’s where we need to change tack.

“It’s not effective, telling trolls that people are hurt by this. It’s not effective showing the dire consequences; and let me tell you, there are dire consequences. People take their lives, strong people take their lives, because of bullying online.

“Anthony Seibold is not on social media, he’s still a victim of this. This impacts every single person in this country.

“We no longer have the luxury of just saying, ‘Get offline’. It doesn’t work. Society is now online, whether you like it or not. People need to be held accountable.

“We go into schools and it’s wonderful, it’s lovely and we say to young kids, ‘If you are being bullied, you go tell a teacher or you just ignore it, you block them. You report them, don’t let it get to you, build your resilience’.

Erin Molan has had enough.

“No — we should be going into schools and telling every little kid, ‘If you bully online, if you write something online that isn’t true that hurts someone, if you threaten someone’s life online, if you use hate speech online, you’ll be getting offline, you’ll be going to juvenile detention, your prospects of getting a job later on will be almost zilch, you may not be able to travel overseas. Once you turn 18, if you keep doing it, you’ll be going to jail’. That’s what will work.”

She revealed she personally has met with Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher to push her case for social media giants to also take responsibility for policing the vile abuse that occurs on their social platforms.

“We’ve got to create the legislation first, we’ve got to change the laws,” she said.

“And you know what, if Instagram and Facebook and Twitter don’t want to get on board with our laws in this country, then they can go away. They won’t be able to run in this country and I tell you what, they generate a lot of money through advertising in this country on these platforms.

“So if the government gets tough, the social media companies — I promise you — will get on board.”

Molan last week also called for tougher cyber bullying laws as she praised Seibold for pursuing his alleged attackers.

“Some of these rumours that have been circulating and some of the trolling that he has received has been some of the vilest that I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some pretty vile stuff and I’ve been the recipient of some pretty vile stuff,” Molan said.

“I am so glad that he is taking action, I’m so glad that he has got lawyers. I’m so glad that he has got cyber experts from overseas.

“Trolling is not someone not liking you. Trolling is not someone going online and saying, ‘Erin I don’t like your dress’ or ‘Erin I don’t like you’. That’s not trolling.

“Trolling is vile, repeated harassment. It is threatening, it is so serious … Things need to change.”

Originally published as NRL 2020: Erin Molan’s cutting bully takedown over Broncos Anthony Seibold rumours