On 9/04/23, prominent American news organisation and YouTube channel ‘Inside Edition’ uploaded a video entitled “Beware of Australia” which enforces ongoing stereotypes and misinformation about the safety of Australia. The video is hypocritical, disrespectful, and is an insult towards the country and its people.

"Beware of Australia" discusses so-called “dangerous incidents” that occurred in the country, including “a crocodile snatching a drone”, “spiders crawling up fences during river floods”, a practically harmless “huntsman spider approaching a woman”, and “a giant cane toad being discovered”. I'm sorry, what? How are these events so "dangerous"? Additionally, the video discusses incidents that can actually also occur in the USA and other parts of the world, such as dangerous animal attacks (including sharks) and radioactivity accidents. Surprisingly enough, Inside Edition has not made a “Beware of the USA” or “Beware of *this country*” and “*that country*” list yet (not that I’m saying they should though, not at all!), but they are very happy(!) to mock and stereotype Australia because of its “wildlife” for some reason, which encourages the spread of misinformation, and mockery, teasing, and even bullying of Australians. The myth that Australia is dangerous due to its wildlife damages the worldwide view of said country. It’s a myth that continues to be enforced across the globe, which affects tourism and the way overseas individuals scrutinise Australian people. The fact that this was uploaded during Easter makes this even worse; a time when Australians relax, go out camping, and Christian Australians meditate and pray.

Australia has already gone through enough lately, from the river floods to bushfires, to rising violence in Alice Springs. Inside Edition needs to get their act together and STOP this misinformation! Spiders crawling up fences and other trivial events, as well as typical incidents that can occur anywhere in the world, are not good excuses to warn viewers about Australia. If anything, Inside Edition should talk about the real issues going on in this country, and give viewers advice and encourage them to help stop them.

Of course, this is not to say that Inside Edition can’t report on the events depicted in Beware Of Australia. They still can, but as I said, they shouldn’t use them to make people think they should “beware of Australia”. Share them, fascinate and amaze your viewers, while at the same time, be respectful towards Australians and don’t mock the country.

Inside Edition was my favourite news organisation until now, which is one of the reasons why I started this petition. They usually share news stories that are both good and bad; stories that upset but also stories that fascinate, bring hope, and make viewers smile. Most videos on Inside Edition are quite honest and informative. We know they can do better than this.

The Australian community finds this video from Inside Edition very offensive and downright disrespectful. As a professional news organisation, Inside Edition needs to do better and conduct a good amount of research before talking about Australia. Once again, DO NOT stereotype Australia as a dangerous country due to its wildlife. We’ve HAD ENOUGH of this; we’ve HAD ENOUGH of people online spreading lies and exaggerations that scare viewers away from enjoying said nation. We've HAD ENOUGH of shaming!

We and the signers demand Inside Edition to take down “Beware of Australia”, focus on the real issues going on while at the same time avoiding stereotypes. Inside Edition can still report on trivial events like the crocodile attacking a drone, and various incidents in Australia, but also be respectful at the same time, and never spread misinformation about said country ever again, especially in regards to its safety. Once this video is taken down, re-uploads may occur, so we also demand Inside Edition to take down / file copyright claims against any re-uploads online. Finally, most importantly, we ask Inside Edition to provide a sincere, honest apology for what they said about Australia, and to do better research before reporting on any events that occur in said country in the future.

Thank you very much, and thank you to all the signers for your support.