Young people’s experience with online hate, bullying and violence
A high proportion of young people aged 12 to 17 in Australia have encountered inappropriate or hateful content online.
Their experiences included:
- Being targets of bullying[https://www.esafety.gov.au/node/126] or hurtful comments: 25% — 30% of girls, 21% of boys
- Seeing real violence that disturbed them: 57% — 62% of girls, 53% of boys
- Seeing racist comments: 56% — 60% of girls, 53% of boys
- Seeing or hearing hateful comments about cultural or religious groups: 53% — 57% of girls, 50% of boys
Targets of harmful content online (multiple responses allowed)
- Muslims, 53%
- Asylum seekers, 37%
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, 37%
- Refugees, 35%
- Asians, 33%
- LGBTI, 26%
- Africans, 20%
- Jews, 17%
- Christians, 15%
- Other minority groups, 2%
Promotion of terrorism
33% of young people have seen videos or images promoting terrorism online.
Dealing with online hate, bullying and violent content
What young people said they would do when they encountered...
Cyberbullying[https://www.esafety.gov.au/node/126]:
- 53% report it (72% would report to their parents)
- 18% post a comment against it
- 18% ignore it
- 4% share it with online friends
Violent images or videos promoting terrorism:
- 48% report it (66% of these would report to their parents)
- 29% ignore it
- 8% post a comment against it
- 2% share it with online friends
Racist or hateful comments about cultural groups:
- 36% report it (66% of these would report to their parents
- 33% post a comment against it
- 17% ignore it
- 3% share it with online friends
Hateful comments about religion:
- 32% report it (64% of these would report to their parents)
- 14% post a comment against it
- 40% ignore it
- 2% share it with online friends
Source: Research commissioned by eSafety and the Department of Education and Training, November to December 2016. Respondents comprised 2,448 young people aged 12 to 17 years in Australia.
