Dr. Tijana Milosevic:

I researched the effectiveness of what social media companies are doing when it comes to cyberbullying. That was the focus of my research so it involved the tools these companies already have. I am not a legal scholar so I do not feel competent to speak on the issue of liability. I understand both sides in terms of freedom of expression and innovation on the one hand and the need to protect on the other. It is extremely important for victims to have a streamlined way of communicating what has happened and an effective way to take down content that has harmed them in some way. It can be difficult for companies to do that for various reasons. Very often, even if the poster is anonymous, the problem is not just with him or her. Content spreads easily and is very easily shared so the problem becomes a cultural problem.

I will give a perfect example of this. I have studied the cases of children who have died by suicide in different countries. This happened because their intimate images were shared online without their consent, for example, through predators. What really got to them and in a way brought about that tragic outcome was the bullying from their peers that took place afterwards, so it was not about the poster and taking down that one piece of content or even punishing the poster. It was about the wider culture of bullying. It is important to take the content down and point out that this form of abuse is not okay, particularly when someone is a young person, but it is not enough. Of course, companies should be responsible but regulating their liability is a very difficult question.

In respect of the proposal for a digital services Act in the European Commission and the e-commerce directive, it is a very difficult question that legal scholars must address. This committee should bear in mind that taking down this content is really not enough. It is very important to know that even if we incentivise the companies by proposing fines, which is one aspect of what the Australian eSafety Commissioner is doing, it is not enough of a solution.

It is also very important that we need to evaluate continually what the companies are already doing. If they say they have an effective reporting mechanism, there needs to be a way to determine through independent research how effective that is from the perspective of victims, particularly if the victims are young people.