Child safety advocates call for pornography, sex education overhaul amid social media inquiry

A heartbroken mother has warned about the dangers of online predators after her daughter was killed after being catfished by a 50-year-old attacker.

The mother of a young girl killed by her online predator has called for age verification checks for pornography websites and a complete overhaul of school-based sex education to be rolled out to protect children from online harm.

Sonya Ryan’s daughter Carly was murdered in 2007 by an online predator and since then has channelled her efforts into keeping young people safe on the internet.

Carly Ryan was 15 when she was catfished by a 50-year-old predator posing as an 18-year-old, whom she fell in love with.

Garry Newman spent months masquerading as a teenage boy, before eventually luring her to a fatal meeting at a secluded South Australian beach. There, he bashed her, pushed her face into the sand, suffocated her, and threw her into the water to drown.

Her mother was the first witness called in the Select Committee on Social Media and Online Safety on Tuesday, which was announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison earlier this month to examine online harm as part of his crusade to crack down on tech giants.

Part of the committee’s role, chaired my NSW Liberal MP Lucy Wicks, will be to assess what role algorithms used by social media companies play in increasing exposure to extreme content, and whether safety protections for children are being enforced.

Adelaide teenager Carly Ryan was murdered in 2007 by Gary Newman, who pretended to be an 18-year-old musician. Pictured: Supplied

Sonya Ryan launched the Carly Ryan Foundation following the murder of her daughter at the hands of an online predator. She told the Social Media Committee on Tuesday there needed to be changes to the way children are exposed to harmful, sexual content on the internet. Picture: supplied

Ms Ryan, who launched the Carly Ryan Foundation following the murder of her daughter told the Social Media Committee on Tuesday there needed to be changes to the way children are exposed to harmful, sexual content on the internet.

“One of the number one threats we are seeing right now is a huge increase in sextortion... when a young person gets online, and somebody approaches them and complements them and makes them feel comfortable… Before you know it they’re asking for a nude or a semi-nude image,” Ms Ryan said.

“That child is looking for validation, they’re not... really considering their safety and are providing that content. That criminal will then threaten the child for more content, and often what we’re seeing is the child shutting down, not knowing how to respond, feeling threatened and very worried that this person is going to share their content all over the internet.

“And so they then go on to provide more and more and more content.

“It is... disturbing.”

Pornography and ‘sexploitation’ are two major concerns the Carly Ryan Foundation has in regards to children’s online exposure to harm.

Ms Ryan said pornography was another key issue the foundation was focused on, and was suggesting age verification in order for adults to access pornographic sites and protect children.

“We’ve said for a long time that there could be a possibility of a user having to provide, say, 100 points of ID, just as we do for anything in the real world. Once that verification is given, they’re given a verification number which allows them to access that platform,” Ms Ryan said.

“The harms from young people viewing and accessing online pornography is extensive.

“The reports that we’re getting from medical professionals, doctors and counsellors saying that there are so many young people presenting with serious (sex related) injuries and really none the wiser as to you know, when they’re spoken to about what has happened to them.

“(They say) ‘Oh, this is what I thought I had to do. This is how I thought a relationship worked’. Because there has been really little education around what young people need now.”

Sonya Ryan is calling for a more holistic sex education that includes discussion around consent and coercion in order to mitigate physical and emotional harms. Picture: Matt Turner.

As a result of the overwhelming exposure children have to sexually explicit content, a change to sexual education is required, focusing more on consent, coercion and healthy relationships, Ms Ryan said.

“Through our education program (at the foundation) we are very open, honest and transparent, and they tell us they appreciate the frankness, openness and honesty of the conversation,” Ms Ryan said.

“Teachers and parents are always shocked at the amount young people are aware of and what they’re doing together all the time. Some of the education versus what young people are doing are miles apart.

“We need to look at ways of hearing from young people – what they have to say, what their needs are, and what they’re dealing with, so then we’re better equipped to be able to provide them with adequate support.”

She also voiced her frustration at social media giants who refuse to release data regarding the access criminals have to vulnerable children, because they are more concerned with privacy than safety.

“The foundation has previously asked a platform what percentage of their users aged 13 to 18 have a public versus private account. They said they would not release this to us based on privacy considerations,” she said.

“For organisations such as ourselves is difficult to know what safety messages to target if platforms are unwilling to be honest and upfront about where their issues are.”

The committee, which later heard from the Morcombe Foundation and the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, continues on Wednesday.