40% Jump in Child Cyberbullying
Last year, eSafety received 2,383 reports of cyberbullying compared to 1700 in 2022, with two-thirds of reports (67 per cent) concerning children aged 12 to 15 years.
The top five cyberbullying harms reported to eSafety in 2023 were nasty comments or serious name calling; offensive or upsetting pictures or videos; fake accounts and impersonations; threats of violence; and unwanted contact.
Cyberbullying peaks in the early teens, 14 per cent of reports of being cyberbullied came from the 12-year-old age group, 21 per cent were 13-year-olds and 17 per cent were 14-year-olds.
Two-thirds of reports (66 per cent) related to cyberbullying of girls and just under one-third (29 per cent) concerned boys, with gender diverse children targeted in 2 per cent of reports.
Signs that suggest a child is being cyberbullied include appearing sad, lonely, angry, worried or upset more than usual, unexpected changes in friendship groups or not wanting to be around people, even friends, changes in personality, becoming more withdrawn or anxious, changes in sleep patterns, eating or energy levels and becoming secretive about their mobile phone use or what they are doing online.
Parents and carers need to be invested and involved in the child’s online lives: ask what they’re doing, why they enjoy it and how it works. By showing interest, it makes it easier for them to open up if things go wrong.
To report cyberbullying of a child, collect evidence, such as the user profile, URL of the content and screenshots of the content, report the cyberbullying to the platform where it is happening, review the device and app privacy settings and mute or block the account and if the platform fails to act, the person targeted, or an authorised representative (such as a parent), can report it to eSafety.gov.au/report.
Boundaries need to be set including which devices and apps can be used, when and for how long and children should be encouraged to use their devices in open areas. Apps they're using should be monitored and age-appropriate parental controls activated and set at the highest level. It’s essential that we know who kids are connected to, including through online games and keep reminding them that you always have their back if things go wrong online.
Acting eSafety Commissioner Kathryn King said eSafety’s investigators tend to see an increase in cyberbullying reports during school term because online bullying is frequently an extension of bullying behaviour in the playground or classroom.
“Once they’re back in the classroom, ask questions about what they’re doing online and who they’re chatting to with the same regularity that you’d ask them about maths, sport and school friendships.”
Ms King said rapid take-up of sophisticated AI technologies was changing the nature of online abuse.
“The nature and impact of cyberbullying harm is changing for the worse with the rise of generative AI technologies. These incredibly powerful tools burst onto the mainstream stage last year and are now being used to produce very realistic, degrading and offensive synthetic content featuring real people, including children."
Any parent or carer wanting to brush up on their online safety skills can sign up for free webinars as part of Safer Internet Day on Tuesday, 6 February.