I’m calling on the Australian government to commence an independent review of the eSafety Commissioner website, to review and update content around social media and its inherent risks to our children.

Parents and caregivers referred to this government website (via schools and/or other community organisations), need better guiding information to make informed decisions about their child(ren)’s online safety, health and wellbeing.  

As a deeply concerned parent, I have witnessed first-hand the devastating impact of social media on my daughter's mental health.  Her addiction to social media has led to severe deterioration in her health and wellbeing, including being subjected to cyberbullying, receiving a death threat and being exposed to online sexual predators.  These traumatic experiences were reported to both the police and school, but it underscores the urgent need for action.

The eSafety Commissioner is the authority for online safety in Australia, yet they are failing in their duty of care and legislative obligations, to serve and protect the Australian community.  The content needs to be reviewed and updated, to be impartial, unbiased, and reflect accurately the real dangers that children face on social media platforms.

The growing body of research clearly indicates that social media use/misuse is contributing to the significant rise in reported mental health issues affecting children and teenagers, including eating disorder issues, self-harm, suicide ideation, addictions (e.g., drug and screen-related), self-esteem issues, anxiety and depression.  This is in addition to the reported cases of crimes committed by sexual predators, paedophiles and drug dealers.  The evidence is compelling, as detailed in the following articles:

ABC News: 

Mental health disorders in young Australians surge by 47 per cent over 15 years, new data shows.

Young people at 'significant' risk of poor body image after just minutes on TikTok, Instagram, researchers say

The Project, Channel Ten (video segment): 

Horrifying number of teenagers are being cyber-bullied
 
The Guardian:

 ‘Out of control’: 60% of Australian parents and carers surveyed say social media is their biggest concern for kids​ 

Social media could be as harmful to children as smoking or gambling – why is this allowed?​

New York sues TikTok, Instagram and YouTube over ‘addictive’ platforms for children​

Their kids died after buying drugs on Snapchat. Now the parents are suing​

UK data watchdog issues Snapchat enforcement notice over AI chatbot​

Ex-police officer who abused 200 girls via Snapchat jailed for life

The global evidence is alarming, highlighting how widespread this issue is and why immediate action is necessary.

We urge for an impartial, unbiased review of the eSafety Commissioner website.  This independent review needs to consider:

1.      Investigation into ALL potential dangers associated with social media use among children and teenagers

2.      Referencing/linking latest published global research on the website

3.      Specialist consultations, engaging with leading academic and mental health specialists, medical practitioners (in the public and private sectors), and social media and public health experts

4.      Community consultations with the public, including parents, caregivers, children, teenagers, teachers, health care practitioners, medical and social media experts, and academics to:

-        Strengthen anecdotal evidence to include on website, particularly from medical and public health perspectives

-        Capture the different user experiences, to be published as real-life and relatable stories, focusing on children’s use of social media, and the associated mental health and safety outcomes

By signing this petition, you are supporting our efforts towards safeguarding our children's mental health from harmful online activities.  

Let us work together in raising community awareness, and making sure our government bodies are fulfilling their responsibilities effectively. 

Please sign this petition today!