The mother of a Kiama teen who took her own life after trolls tormented her on social media has welcomed the powers of the eSafety Commissioner (see below) but warns online bullies are on the rise.
“I'm all for anyone taking a stand to stop cyber bullies,’’ said Ness Love-Monk whose daughter Courtney Love committed suicide in 2012.
‘’I would love nothing more than to know that every keyboard warrior who cyber bullies another human being would be shut down by the commissioner. But in reality that’s not possible,’’ she said.
‘’My husband Daniel and I believe it will never ever be possible … You shut one bully down, another one will replace it.’’
Courtney was 15 when she posted images of her self-torture on the internet.
"Show us more" the nameless trolls prompted, "we love this, cut deeper".
She died on October 5, 2012. Since then, cyber bullying has gotten worse, Mrs Love-Monk believes.
“Hearing from others who are encountering bullying, a bully will find a way even if they are shut down. Facebook profiles are growing in the numbers and so does the bullying.’’
Mrs Love-Monk said the pain of losing Courtney was “still as raw as it was the day she left us’’.
She urged parents to check in on their children and be proactive in their lives. And she wants cyber bullies who play a major role in the death of another person to be jailed.
“They don't see their bullying as a wrongdoing and get enjoyment out of causing misery,’’ she said.
“Videos are posted online of kids ganging up on other kids, and then comments from others who have clearly enjoyed watching.
“And these bullies think the internet can hide their actions. Only a small number get punished. Most get away with causing this misery. Will this ever end? We think not.’’
Waging war on cyber hell
In a world first, Australia has passed legislation giving the Children’s eSafety Commissioner powers to remove “serious cyber bullying’’ if social media companies fail to act.
A company hosting the offending material has 48 hours to act before the Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner can step in.
“Our average once we get a complaint is eight hours to get material removed,’’ said senior education adviser Kellie Britnell, who will be in Wollongong on Wednesday.
“Sometimes we’ve been as good as 10 minutes.’’
Ms Britnell will explain the powers of the eSafety Commissioner to high school students and parents, and give tips on how they can help stop cyber bullying.
Formed in July last year, the Office had received 124 complaints about serious cyber bullying by March 30.
‘’We have agreements with most major social media companies that if a young person is seriously cyber-bullied, their first step is to go to the company, make report and if they haven’t removed the content within 48 hours hours they can come to us,’’ Ms Britnell said.
Sometimes the abuse is not isolated to one platform, so it takes time and a holistic approach.
The Office, introduced as part of an election promise to form a united approach to cyber safety, is flooded with enquiries - some which don‘t meet the benchmark for ‘’serious’’ cases of bullying.
Of the serious categories, the most common complaint is nasty comments and serious name calling. The second highest rate of complaints is for ‘’offensive and upsetting private pictures or videos’’.
‘’Very close to that is fake and/or impersonator accounts and threats of violence. Cases don’t normally fit into one category there is normally a few,’’ Ms Britnell said.
‘’If there are threats of violence or criminal behaviour we refer immediately to police.’’
Fifteen-year-olds have made the most complaints, followed closely by 13-year-olds. While it’s too early to draw any firm conclusions, Ms Britnell said observations show that 12 to 16-year-olds are most at risk and then there is a big drop-off of complaints by later teens.
‘’We are seeing a lot of 12 to 13-year-olds coming up in complaints and often its writing nasty messages in group chats,’’ she said.
“Also we are seeing that once exams start, complaints stop.’’
Ms Britnell is responsible for developing, implementing and managing national eSafety training programs for all audiences, including sport and community groups, indigenous, tertiary students and law enforcement.
She will share her knowledge at Wollongong Court House on Wednesday as part of Law Week. Contact Jade.profilio@justice.nsw.gov.au.
Getting help
- Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) is a free and confidential telephone counselling service for 5 to 25-year-olds in Australia.kidshelp.com.au.
- Lifeline (13 11 14) is a free and confidential service staffed by trained telephone counsellors. lifeline.org.au.
- The Australian Human Rights Commission (1300 656 419) has a complaint-handling service that may investigate complaints of discrimination, harassment and bullying here.
What is cyber bullying?
- Cyberbullying is bullying through the use of technology, according to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
- Using the internet, a mobile phone or a camera to hurt or embarrass someone is considered cyberbullying. It can be shared widely with a lot of people quickly, which is why it is so dangerous and hurtful.
What does cyber bullying look like?
- Being sent mean or hurtful text messages from someone you know or even someone you don’t know.
- Getting nasty, threatening or hurtful messages through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, or through sites where people can ask/answer questions such as Formspring or internet forums.
- People sending photos and videos of a person to others to try to embarrass or hurt the person.
- People spreading rumours via emails or social networking sites or text messages.
- People trying to prevent the victim communicating with others.
- People stealing passwords or hacking accounts and changing the information.
- People setting up fake profiles, or posting messages or status updates from someone else’s account.
How to prevent online bullying
- Do not share your private information like passwords, name and address, phone numbers or photos with people you don’t know.
- Don’t respond to messages when you are angry or hurt – either to strangers or people you know.
- Log out and stop messaging if you feel you are being harassed.
- Remember you have the option to block, delete and report anyone who is harassing you online and on your mobile.
- Find out how to report bullying and harassment on each of the different social networks that you use.
- Keep a record of calls, messages, posts and emails that may be hurtful or harmful to you.
- Set up the privacy options on your social networking sites like Facebook in a way you are comfortable with.
Originally published as Courtney’s death ‘raw as day she left us’ by the Illawarra Mercury.