Under the strict world-first laws, Australian cyberbullies could have their online accounts banned. As per the new regulatory guidance released by the eSafety Commissioner, Australia’s world-first cyberbullying scheme is set to be expanding the protection to children from being bullied in online games and on private messaging platforms.
The Online Safety Act will come into effect from January 2022, the children will be able to report threats, harassment, humiliation or intimidation to the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant if social media companies fail to take action.
Previously, the social media had 48 hours to take action before taking it up to the eSafety commissioner, but the time has now been reduced to 24 hours.
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In a media release, Inman Grant said that they know that one in five kids has experienced cyberbullying and it increases with more social media and gaming profiles they have. Cyberbullying reports submitted to the agency reported 30% increase in the past 12 months with people spending more time online during the Covid 19 pandemic.
She said that children are spending more time online whether it’s watching TV or gaming or chatting with friends via social media platforms like Whatsapp and Discord. The new updates have allowed them to help children with more places where they spend time online.
The update in the Australia’s cyberbullying scheme is the first in a series of new regulatory guidance that is set to be released by the eSafety from now and towards the end of the year.
This comes after, Prime Minister Scott Morrison asked the fellow G20 leaders to tackle the online safety. During the meeting, he said everybody needs to ensure that the rules that are applied differently in the respective countries in the real world should be applied to the digital world as well. And the digital platforms should not be allowed to be used as tools or weapons to oppress, coerce and harass other people.
