Nickolas Varvaris (Barton, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the House for the opportunity to speak on this important bill, the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014. Today's legislation is one crucial aspect of the coalition's election policy that will enable a suite of measures to improve the online safety of all Australian children. The safety of children is one of paramount concern in our nation. This is embedded in the legislation we enact and an essential part of our law enforcement and protection agencies. As the federal member for Barton with children of my own, the idea of any sort of harm inflicted on a child is unthinkable. Yet harm is not a simplistic notion. It is not isolated to a sticks-and-stones mantra. It can carry many forms and be disseminated through various mediums. With the advent of modern technology and the prolific use of social media and almost all children having access to a smartphone, a computer or laptop, children and young people are more exposed than ever to a cyberworld in which they need to tread carefully. Yet, children and young people can be naive or ignorant to the risks posed by engaging socially online and the sort of psychological warfare that endangers them. Online mediums such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Dig, YouTube, Flickr, Tumblr, Reddit and other chat forums which allow for direct and open lines of communication, banter and debate can sometimes lead to personal attacks, incidents of trolling and even threats, whether intentional or not, that can create adverse consequences for the participants.

What was once schoolyard banter can now rapidly escalate into bullying through far more sophisticated channels. Some participants deliberately choose not to confront their victims face to face and, instead, hide behind keyboards using pseudonyms and online identities or avatars to unleash verbal assaults on those less suspecting with far-reaching psychological effects.

Cyberbullying, as the term has been coined, is sadly a familiar concept and frequent occurrence in the lives of many young children. As parents watch helplessly on or are perhaps even unaware of the damage inflicted on their children, the unresolved issues often result in severe depression, anxiety, low self-confidence and, in some extreme cases, suicide. The fear of loss of reputation and social standing is traumatic for children and teenagers. To rule out internet use completely as a solution is unfeasible in this day and age. Rather, we must ensure there is a multipronged approach to dealing with often sensitive but extremely critical matters.

The coalition is committed to ensuring that no children should have to be exposed to racism, violence, discrimination and prejudice, specifically in an online environment. Bullying statistics demonstrate that cyberbullying is actually one form of teen violence that can inflict lasting trauma on the victim. A staggering 20 to 40 per cent of adolescents have been bullied on more than one occasion either via mobile phones or the internet.

Being aware of this occurrence is one thing but having the specific legislation and resources in place is the only way to safeguard all children.

Having specific resources dedicated to this increasingly prevalent issue is essential, given the nature of this bullying. Many parents report a feeling of helplessness upon discovering their children have been victims of cyberbullying, because it is an unfamiliar concept to them. It can be difficult to provide a solution if you are also navigating uncharted waters yourself.

The coalition has undertaken thorough research and stakeholder liaison in the preparation of today's bill so that there is appropriate leadership to this ongoing matter. As such, today's proposed bill will allow the establishment of a Children's e-Safety Commissioner which will act as a single point of contact for online safety issues and spearhead the government's policies for improving the safety of children online.

The coalition proposes that the commissioner be an independent statutory office within the Australian Communications and Media Authority to focus solely on the issue of online safety. We propose that the key function of the commissioner is to administer a complaints system for cyberbullying. We also propose that the commissioner will have two sets of powers when responding to and dealing with complaints.

The aim is to leverage the commissioner with appropriate power and resources to issue a notice to a large social media service asking for it to remove offensive material. It can do so voluntarily but, if it fails repeatedly, the request for removal will become legally binding. Furthermore, and this is quite critical, the commissioner will also have the power to request the person directly—that is, the end user, who posted the original material—requiring the individual to either remove the offensive material, refrain from posting the material or apologise for having posted it. Of course legal sanctions may not be necessary at all if the social media site removes the offending material in a timely manner.

Today's bill incorporates the legal sanction aspect, because so many social media sites have failed to do so. Simultaneously, large social media sites should be given notification through its processes for offending material to be removed and, in the event that this does not occur, a complaint is formally registered with the e-safety commissioner. If the social media site removes the material promptly, there will be no need to further pursue this with the commissioner and obviously no legal action. In this way, we are ensuring all parties are given an opportunity to seek appropriate remedy without diving straight into a punitive process.

I would like to take this opportunity to assure everyone that this is not about creating excessive regulation and red tape. As I mentioned previously, the rate of cyberbullying and its ramifications have been recorded in the public space for some time now and it is imperative we act accordingly to the needs of those affected and safeguard all children.

While previously little was known or understood about this modern dilemma, cases such as Charlotte Dawson, Louise Stalker and the Australian Defence Force Academy Skype scandal highlight the need for an efficient and effective case handling process that involves civil penalties and appropriate levels of accountability.

Cases of children, young adults and even fully-grown adults experiencing online bullying, harassment and threats demonstrate the need for an authority that is equipped with the resources to tackle the issues where previously, social media sites have failed to do so. This was supported by a government commissioned detailed report by the University of New South Wales Social Policy Research Centre which concluded that a crucial obstacle encountered by our police and agencies when dealing with this was lack of liability and ownership of the issue by the social media sites.

Many public consultations have also concluded that, even when the complaint process was followed through the social media site, material was not removed; and cases where fake accounts were set up to disseminate offence were still permitted to operate. This has nothing to do with free speech, excessive regulation and content censorship—rather it is strictly about protecting individuals against harm.

I want to assure everyone that freedom of speech is not at stake here, and that is why these measures specifically target those communicating with children, who are at impressionable stages in their lives and do not possess the cognitive functioning which might shield them from online assaults.

As parliamentarians, we are obliged to create a safe environment for children and, by streamlining and simplifying the cyberbullying handling scheme, we are getting on with the first step of enhancing cybersafety. Other duties that will complement the e-safety commissioner's key functions include promoting online safety for children; coordinating relevant activities with Commonwealth departments, authorities and agencies; creating educational and community awareness programs; and advising the respective minister.

Fundamentally, the legislation will ensure that social media services comply with basic standards of care for their users. Shifting their responsibility to that of the user and victim, essentially blaming them for events outside of their control, is grossly unfair and unhelpful in deterring cyberattacks. Unfortunately, evidence provided to the coalition shows that social media sites cannot be trusted to remove offensive material on their own accord. So the bill before us today is absolutely necessary to monitor the breach of safety and enhance online security for all children. The longer something remains online, the more harm it can do, especially if posts, pictures, videos and so forth become viral—something that happens time and again once it has a particular audience reach.

As I mentioned before, the safety of children is of paramount concern when it comes to Australia's legislation, and this one is no different. We owe it to the victims, past and present, to act immediately with an effective solution to curb cyberbullying. I commend this bill to the House.

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