Aussies want Big Tech to take responsibility for safety of young users

A group of young Aussies have called on US tech giants to take urgent action to stop popular online platforms becoming a ‘haven for trolls, haters and predators’.

A group of young Aussies have called on US tech giants to take urgent action to stop popular online platforms becoming a “haven for trolls, haters and predators”.

The 24-member eSafety Commissioner’s Youth Council has penned a letter to Big Tech outlining the simple steps they should take to keep kids safe online, as new research reveals seven out of 10 Australians aged 14 to 24 have been harassed or abused online in the last 12 months.

Their ideas for tech companies include placing privacy settings at the highest level by default on their platforms; investing in systems that flag unsafe behaviour in private messages; establishing community rules that discourage toxic callout culture and using human moderators – not just algorithms.

Fourteen-year-old Sydney schoolgirl Ruhani Surana is a passionate member of the youth council, and wants some of the world’s most powerful companies to take more responsibility for the safety of their youngest users.

“Our current online experience isn’t cutting it any more, with cases of harassment, abuse and predatory behaviour skyrocketing,” she said.

Sonja Vujanic and Ruhani Surana from the eSafety Commissioners Youth Council. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“At a time when our confidence and sense of identity is still developing, this abuse takes a toll on our mental health and shapes what we become in the future.

“I’ve had lots of friends fall victim to cyberbullying and it’s astounding to see how quickly they change and the mark it leaves on them.

Cyberbullying takes a toll on young people’s mental health. Picture: iStock

“So it’s not enough anymore for Big Tech to just outline rules of engagement, they need to impose real consequences on those who break the rules.”

For another council member, and avid gamer, Izak Jamieson, cyberbullying has had a profound effect – causing him to withdraw from the online world at times when the abuse got too much.

“Online gaming is very rewarding at times, but others it’s not so positive,” he said.

“If you make a mistake – for instance your character dies or gets injured – you can cop a lot of abuse and rage from your online partner, either via message or online voice chats, and it can be incredibly intimidating with other players piling on.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.

“I’ve developed coping mechanisms, and turned to esports which is a more controlled environment, but at times it has weighed heavily on me – for instance, when I first started Year 7 and was trying to make friends and the abuse flowed from online to school.”

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the new research, released ahead of the 20th annual Safer Internet Day on Tuesday, shows that a third of Australians aged 18 to 24 believed tech companies weren’t doing enough to build safety features into their services and products.

“Our youth council have written this letter to Big Tech because they want these companies to actively enforce their terms of service so that the abuse they and their friends are experiencing cannot be done with total impunity,” she said.

“A lot of content moderators for these platforms are based overseas and much is done by algorithm, so online harassment and abuse often falls through the cracks – with subtleties like culture and context often missed.

“The youth council has a list of realistic and well warranted demands and I’ll also be inviting Australian representatives of the most popular platforms and companies to meet with them to discuss their concerns and ideas, and take those back to their corporate leaders.”

Ms Inman Grant said the surge in cyberbullying experienced at the height of the Covid pandemic had not slowed, as expected, even as people had returned to schools and workplaces.

“In 2022 we received 1700 complaints and we know those numbers are modest,” she said, “and there’s children as young as eight or nine reporting harassment and abuse - children that shouldn’t even be on TikTok or Snap according to the platforms’ own terms of service.”

Online bullying was “invasive and persuasive” Ms Inman Grant said, following students from the schoolyard to their homes, and bedrooms.

“There’s the disinhibition effect - people saying things they wouldn’t say directly to your face,” she said. “It can cut very deeply, but the quicker that content can be removed, the less harm it causes.

“Big Tech has a responsibility to ensure it minimises that harm, so that creativity and positivity can flourish on these platforms.”

Visit esafety.gov.au