Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
National
Rachael Ward

Online victims still shoulder abuse burden

A report by Julie Inman-Grant found people with disabilities are more likely to be abused online. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

A lobster. Partially digested dog food. Should be killed with fire.

Those are just a few of the insults online trolls have thrown at disability activist Carly Findlay, who was born with painful skin condition ichthyosis.

But simply logging off or ignoring the taunts wasn't a realistic option for the author, or many people living with disabilities, who rely on the internet for work or to connect with others.

Ms Findlay told the Disability Royal Commission she believed laws against online harm introduced in the past 12 months were inadequate and the onus was still on victims to contact social media platforms about harassment.

"This is both exhausting and should not be on our shoulders alone," Ms Findlay told the hearing on Friday.

"Why should it take someone feeling suicidal or taking their own life before the eSafety commissioner acts on it?"

E-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant said her office considers disability when determining serious intent to harm but agreed there was quite a high threshold before formal action could be taken.

"We can't put the threshold so low that we open up the floodgates and won't be able to manage the reports," Ms Inman-Grant said.

She said the law had been designed because of concerns interfering with freedom of expression, freedom of speech, defamation law and reputational harm.

A recent report by the eSafety commissioner found people with disabilities were more likely to experience online abuse than the rest of the population and around half of it related to victims' appearance.

Earlier in the week, the commission was told short-statured people had been filmed without their consent in public and feared the videos would end up online.

Ms Inman-Grant said she did not have regulatory powers to stop that particular behaviour but could stop the distribution of intimate videos.

She said her office was exploring how it could become more proactive.

Representatives for social media giant Twitter also gave evidence on Friday about reporting processes and technology used to identify harmful content.

The commission continues in Melbourne next week.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.