Harmful digital communications

Find out what to do if you are the target of harmful digital communications or concerned about extremism.

Here are some examples of harmful digital communications that should be reported.

• Trolling—nasty and distracting comments, which may be personal.
• Hate speech—hostility or prejudice shown towards a person due to their identity or innate characteristics such as race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or age. Minority groups, women and girls are understood to be more at risk than other groups.
• Cyberbullying—being harassed or repeatedly intimidated or mocked online. If you are the target, don’t reply, but collect evidence with screenshots and block harmful content.

Remember:

• You can manage who can comment and engage with your content.
• Treat people with the same courtesy and respect online that you in real life.

Find out more about the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015.

Extremism

Extremists often advocate the use of violence to achieve their desired outcomes and usually are motivated by one of four factors:

• politically motivated
• faith motivated
• identity motivated
• single-issue motivated.

Violent extremist content is illegal because it is harmful. The Department of Internal Affairs has found that this type of content is increasing and that young people are more likely to be targeted, recruited and used by extremists to further circulate extremist views.

Take the following steps if you’re worried about yourself or someone you know increasingly engaging with this type of material.

• Stop. Talk to someone about it.
• Think about it critically, its credibility and source.
• Ask for help. Reach out to someone you trust, or to the Tauria—Student Conflict and Interest Resolution team.

Keep it real provides more information about violent extremist content and how to report it.