eSafety Commission Survey – Shock new research reveals the extent of the dangerous content young people are being bombarded with online

The Daily Telegraph

Cyber safety expert Ross Bark runs courses in schools across NSW and had encountered cases of Year 5 and 6 students who were being sent links to violent material on Snapchat by people believed to be extremists.

More than 2400 young people aged 12-17 years old were surveyed by the eSafety Commission for the research, which showed one in three Australian children have been exposed to terrorist propaganda online, with disturbing reports that primary school students are being sent videos of beheadings by jihadis on social media.

The research also showed that one in four young people have been the target of online bullying. Young people from culturally diverse backgrounds were the most likely to be targets of online hate.

“Children are being exposed to violent propaganda and that includes beheadings,” Mr Bark said. “The problem is they’re accepting friend requests from people they don’t know on Snapchat who are sending them links to very violent content.”

Read the full article in The Daily Telegraph here

Mum’s warning to parents as daughter, 12, groomed over Kik Messenger app

About two weeks ago, Sarah (not her real name) was carrying out a random check of her 12-year-old daughter’s iPad — as she does regularly with all the devices her kids use — when she stopped in horror.

In about five separate conversations, men, claiming to be 23 and 25 years old, had been seeking information from her 12-year-old daughter, asking where she lived and how they could meet her. Then there were the pictures. Vulgar images and videos sent through the app.

Cyber safety expert Ross Bark was shocked, but not surprised to hear of what had happened to the 12-year-old girl. “What I’ve seen is a lot of young people are getting on there to talk to their friends, but they get messages from random people, and they don’t really know what to do, and they’re not confident telling an adult about it,” he said.

Read the full article on news.com.au here