February the 6th was Safer Internet Day.
It is an international day, designed to raise awareness and encourage safer and more friendly online behaviour.
Whilst you can still access all the glossy promotional materials that were developed for the day, what I found more interesting was discovering there is an Office of the eSafety Commissioner.
The stated aim of the Office is to help “all Australians have safe, positive experiences online”.
This translates into a few services that you might find quite useful:
- A complaints and reporting site where you can learn more about, report, and seek support around cyber-bullying
- A place to report image-based abuse (i.e. distribution of intimate pictures of you, without your consent)
- Links to the support and reporting pages of the most common social media sites
- A place to report offensive or illegal content
- Resources for parents trying to protect their children online
- Resources for educators teaching students about online safety
- Online safety information targeted specifically to women
- Outreach programs where you can get one of the Office’s outreach staff to come and present in your school, workplace, or community
- Resources for individuals who have little knowledge or experience about being online
Share with your friends or family. I think the resource is particularly useful for teachers and parents, and also young people who are more likely the targets of cyber-bullying.
As for me, I am going to go back to trolling the Daily Mail website 🙂