Hear us in the fight for our online safety

eSafety Youth Council
GLOBAL THREAT ASSESSMENT 2023
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Ruhani and Elliot are part of the Australian eSafety Youth Council

What we’re told as children

“Leave that online” — We’re often told this as children if we saw negative content or behaviours online. We never understood why the “online world” was perceived so differently from “real life” when we can clearly see how terrible online interactions can leave victims silenced and isolated. This is the mark the online world could leave on you in the real world.

Young people continue to face a thinning bridge between the online and physical worlds, and it’s not spoken about enough in policy making. This is why young people need to join these conversations so that decision-makers can learn from those on the frontline of the online world. After all, we are the generation that’s grown up online and we know what changes are needed to minimise the potential damage of cyber-abuse. 

The Internet is one of the most important aspects of modern social life. It allows people around the world to connect. It’s also one of the sole sources of information for many. Thanks to the Internet, we weren’t alone during the COVID-19 lockdowns, with apps allowing us to video-call, host virtual parties, and even continue our schooling. Despite these benefits, the Internet has allowed predators and online trolls to cause harm and hide behind screens without facing consequences. Children’s vulnerability – as impressionable young minds – make them especially at-risk.

Our message to big tech

As youth eSafety advocates, online safety is extremely important to us. Earlier this year, our Youth Council released an ‘Open Letter to Big Tech’ for Safer Internet Day, calling on the industry to “stop putting profits ahead of [users’] safety”. We are willing to fight for a safer online space, because while the benefits can’t be ignored, neither can the risks. 

Our online utopia looks like a diverse variety of platforms, working together to provide Safety by Design preventative features. Platforms will be proactively engineered with safety and inclusivity, rather than through reactive solutions as afterthoughts. The strengths of different organisations will create a web of near-infallible protections. The focus will be on users’ rights and safety first and foremost, and not profit.

Active feedback loops

We want to see active feedback loops between abuse survivors, young people, and industry leaders that can be implemented within policy decisions, such as those involved in the ‘privacy versus protection’ debate. The voices of survivors and the general community need to be heard when making decisions that affect our online world.

Education, particularly at school, is one of the most effective preventative measures to equip young people with tools to safely navigate the Internet. This Global Threat Assessment shows that 60% of online abuse cases come from a known adult, signifying the importance of education at home as well. Having accessible and high-quality information to answer questions relating to safety is important, and this information should be freely available to everyone, including young people with disabilities.

Online abuse is too big for any of us to tackle alone. As this report states, we need globally aligned legislation. We need everyone to agree on the standards imposed on platforms. We need government and industry officials to hear our voices in the fight for our safety and help the young people whose daily reality is online abuse. 

It’s time we stop saying “leave that online”.