TikToker defamed female Sydney Uni student over sex assault report protest

A TikTok influencer has been ordered to pay $20,000 after she defamed a female University of Sydney student who was sitting next to a group of men as they tore up a report into sexual violence in the sandstone institution.

Male students were filmed tearing up a report into rape and sexual harassment in the university’s colleges at a student representative council (SRC) meeting in October 2024.

A screenshot of the video posted by Amelia Findlay on TikTok which triggered a lawsuit by Liberal Party-aligned student politician Bea McDonald; a screenshot from a TikTok video by Findlay in which she names Bea McDonald.Credit: TikTok

The Red Zone Report made shocking findings, including male students ejaculating into female students’ shampoo and an annual event called “The Purge”, where students post graphic details about each other’s sexual activity.

The report was authored in 2018 but provided to the October SRC meeting by activists discussing ongoing bullying problems within the colleges.

TikTok influencer Amelia FindlayCredit: Instagram

Amelia Findlay, known as Mia or @whatmiadidnext online, posted a video on TikTok on November 1 in which she identified the Liberal Party-aligned students captured in the SRC meeting video.

“If you are going to pursue a career in politics, you’ve really gotta think about how you behave and how you can operate long term and I wanna help them out,” Findlay said in the video.

“And not just guys, girls too. Let’s see if we can help out these aspiring young politicians.”

Findlay named multiple students filmed at the SRC meeting, including Bearte McDonald.

“(McDonald) finds rape and assault hilarious and the ripping up of a report compiled by survivors hilarious in the wake of sexual assault,” Findlay said in the video.

“And um, you know, she’s just not like other girls, and for that, I think she should be rewarded.”

The Red Zone Report made shocking findings about sexual violence at Sydney University.Credit: Louise Kennerley

One user tagged McDonald in a comment and said she “should be ashamed up there as the only woman” in Findlay’s video.

The video was later republished and gained almost 300,000 views and 2 million likes, court documents obtained by the Herald allege. The video has been deleted as of the time of publication.

McDonald enlisted high-profile defamation lawyer Sue Chrysanthou, SC, and hit Findlay with a lawsuit in an attempt to get the video taken down.

University of Sydney vice chancellor Mark Scott that week assured students they were taking the SRC meeting incident “extremely seriously” and threw his support behind the Red Zone Report.

“Any behaviour that mocks victim survivors or ignores the impact of trauma resulting from sexual misconduct is not only misguided but is out of touch with community expectations and unacceptable,” Scott said on November 6.

The Liberal Party on November 8 suspended McDonald for six months as a result of the TikTok video.

That same day McDonald sent the first legal missive to Findlay.

Chrysanthou claimed Findlay’s video painted McDonald as a woman who “betrayed other women by finding it hilarious that a report compiled by survivors of sexual assault was ripped up”.

An extensive apology posted by student newspaper Honi Soit following legal letters from Bearte McDonald.Credit: Facebook

A similar legal threat was sent to the student newspaper Honi Soit, which apologised online to McDonald in December.

The defamation was finalised by consent without a defence being filed. Justice Nicholas Owens entered judgment against Findlay in the sum of $20,000 plus legal costs on February 12.

Findlay has been contacted for comment through her legal team.

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