Many stories simply just break your heart.
Tilly’s story, especially, broke mine. A young teenage girl from regional NSW with everything to live for, she was kind, vibrant and gentle. Tilly loved to dance and paint. She was a star debater.
Tragically, Tilly Rosewarne passed after suffering horrible online harm that no person should ever have to endure.
Even with all the troubling stories the Committee heard through extensive public hearings and heart felt submissions, Tilly’s story was gut wrenching.
In part because she was only 15-years old. But also, because it was so recent: she passed only weeks ago, midway through the Committee’s inquiry process.
I spoke with her mother Emma about Tilly’s experience, and while not forming part of the evidence gathered, Emma asked that her daughter’s story be shared.
“We want to do everything we can to make sure no other little humans go through this,” Emma told the Daily Telegraph.
So this Chair’s foreword is dedicated to Tilly, and to every Australian who has suffered harm in the online environment, causing a devastating trail of trauma for victims, their families and their communities.
Tilly’s story mirrors that of too many others and is why this inquiry is so important, timely and urgent.
Things must change.
The recommendations in this report are an important next step in making our online world and social media platforms safer for all. Too many Australians have been subject to abuse online. Stories of harm, intimidation, and trolling are simply not acceptable.
In the words of Tilly’s parents, “Every post you write, every image you share, every word you say, has an impact. We beg you, before you post, share or speak, ask yourself three questions: is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? If the answer is “no” to any of these questions, do not post, do not share or do not speak. Because no one ever know when these actions are that human’s deepest cut… or the last cut.”
During public hearings, the Committee heard first-hand how online abuse can impact all Australians, regardless of age, gender or background. Powerful evidence given by victims of online abuse demonstrated that such behaviour has the capacity to cause significant and long-term harm. Vulnerable users, such as children and young people, women, and those from culturally diverse backgrounds, are at heightened risk of abuse and are more likely to suffer effects from harm such as impacts to mental health and trauma.
Social media companies have made efforts to address these issues through changes to their platforms, including amendments to their terms of use, rules and standards. The Australian Government has also passed world-first legislation which empowers the eSafety Commissioner to tackle online abuse, and new legislative initiatives have also provided the eSafety Commissioner with heightened powers to impose standards and community expectations on platforms.
Notwithstanding these developments, more must be done to ensure the safety of all Australians in online environments.
For too long social media platforms have been able to ‘set the rules’, enabling the proliferation of online abuse on their spaces. The balance of responsibility for the safety of users online, which until recently has been primarily on users, must be ‘flipped’ to ensure that social media platforms bear the ultimate burden of providing safety for their users.
The inquiry’s findings fall into three categories: what industry can do, what government can do, and the ‘missing middle’ – what individuals and society at large can do to address online harm. The latter category particularly addresses online culture which allows harm to proliferate, and how we can prevent harm from happening in the first place.
It became apparent throughout the inquiry that while technology, social media platforms and government have a role to play in addressing online harm, there is also a need to focus on the conduct and behaviour of individuals who use technology in ways that harm others.
No technology can prevent a decision to deliberately bully another person online. We cannot legislate people’s intentions towards others, but we can look at the behaviours of Australians themselves, the responsibility we all have to be respectful online and the consequences for engaging and perpetrating harm to others.
The Committee is cognisant of addressing the issues faced by victims of online abuse and is also aware that there cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach, and that this work is ongoing as technology and the ways humans use it evolves. Hence, this topic deserves further consideration over a much longer timeframe.
I want to thank witnesses who provided evidence to the Committee, particularly those who shared powerful personal accounts of the impact of online abuse. I thank my parliamentary colleagues from the Joint Committee on the Draft Online Safety Bill in the United Kingdom Parliament who provided the Committee with insight into international regulatory responses.
This inquiry has been extensive, involving 11 public hearings and a number of private meetings. The issues explored were both broad and important to the lives of everyday Australians. All Committee members, and in particular the Deputy Chair, Tim Watts MP, have given generously of their time while also approaching this inquiry with an open mind and a genuine desire to pursue change to create a safer online environment.
The Secretariat team has been outstanding in their professionalism, dedication and genuine commitment throughout this inquiry. The Committee gathered a range and depth of information that would usually be the purview of a much longer inquiry. The Secretariat’s expertise has assisted Committee members beyond measure.
Finally, I thank every individual who showed courage, vulnerability and bravery in speaking up and speaking out. It is the poignancy of their insights based on personal experience that has guided the recommendations in this report aimed at ensuring the online world is a safer place for all.
Ms Lucy Wicks MP
Member for Robertson