
Australian young women cop more abuse online than girls from other parts of the world? Why is this? What are they doing wrong?
This is the finding of a new study of 14000 young women aged 15-22 years across 32 countries. This is a massive study and quite unusual so the results are important. What the study showed was that in Australia, 65% of young women aged 15-25 have been exposed to online violence (compared to the global figure of 58%). Half of those who have experienced harassment have suffered mental and emotional distress as a result. Other countries tat took part in the study included Canada, Brazil, Japan, Zambia, USA and India.
The most common type of online abuse they experience is abusive and insulting language (59%) of girls, deliberate embarrassment (41%), body shaming and threats of sexual violence (both 39%).
So what’s going wrong online that Australians are faring the worst? My segment for SkyNews explains why.
Australians are one of the biggest technology users in the world. 88% of our population use the internet and 71% of Australians use social media. With the majority of our population online means that everything we do online and the impact on us in increases. There are more posts, more replies, more social media fun and more social media hate. Unfortunately the risks therefore for Australian girls to encounter and to be affected by online hate is high.
A study by an organisation called “Light” showed that there has been a 70% increase in hate between kids and teens during online chats, since the beginning of Covid in March this year. Since Covid we have become much more dependent on online platforms for communication, entertainment, work, and education. This huge surge of online communication has led to a dramatic spike in hate speech and online toxicity. This has particular targeted minority or vulnerable groups. There has also been growth in internet traffic to prominent hate sites.
A major issue is that there is little reputational or punitive risk for bad behaviour online. Online social spaces are still not regulated by laws and cooperation to the same extent as life is offline. So long as posts do not cross the line into what the platforms define as “hate speech” or what a particular company defines as “harassment” there is little users can do. And I unfortunately can’t see this being resolved any time soon.
Many people ask me whether social media platforms should take more responsibility in protecting us. The answer is yes, but these are commercial companies. Their main driver is profit. They are not our government. The answer lies in social platforms working closer with government. Clearly a first step is in changing what these platforms define as “hate speech” or “harassment” as clearly their definitions aren’t enough anymore.
How can we protect our girls?
I say this often and it never holds more true. Digital Literacy is a new basic skill we all need to have today. It alerts us to seeing through the strategies people use online to manipulate and damage our thinking. We get in our own echo chambers online. If what our girls see every day on their screen is people taking authority and communicating with them badly, then it becomes normalised, and they are willing to accept it is part of life.
Teaching our children not to be afraid on technology but to be in control of it and giving them the strategies to do this and call out bad behaviour is the best way we can support them.