Safer Internet Day 2023

[A group of people talk individually about what connect, reflect and protect means to them]

'Connect, to me – I immediately think about my loved ones. So I think about my family and my friends.'

'Connection to me is primarily family.'

'Finding other people and having an understanding of other people.'

'Catching up with friends, going out for dinner, just being happy.'

'Feeling accepted.'

'I've lived long enough now to realise that that word carries so many different connotations.'

'To talk with someone, understand how they're feeling.'

'I'm at school all the time. It's very easy for me to connect with my friends.'

'I think it's just important for just navigating the world.'

'How do I reflect? That's a difficult question.'

'Taking my time.'

'You reflect all the time. You know, throughout your day, every decision you make, there is some kind of reflection that comes from that.'

'Reflecting on experiences, reflecting on things I've done, how they affected me.'

'How the things we say and do affect others.'

'I think about my dad and what he would say or what he might do.'

'When I think reflect, I usually think mirror.'

'If I'm reflecting on a thing that I think was a good thing I did, I think, how can I bring that into the future to help me further?'

'What person do you want to be? How do you want to be seen? Or how do you want to feel about yourself?'

'You can't help but think about, you know, the things that you have done, haven't done, should have done, didn't.'

'Looking back through the conversations that I've had, the interactions that I've had, how those have made me feel and how that's made other people feel. And I think that helps us learn about ourselves and others in the world.'

'There is a lot of negativity online.'

'There's a lot of nasty things in the world, unfortunately. So it's really important that we are aware of how we can protect ourselves and others that we care about.'

'I think about protecting people who are vulnerable.'

'You know, feeling empowered to control the conversation and control what details I share online, making my accounts private, controlling who's in my friends list.'

'Not talk to strangers for one. Maybe don't use untrustworthy links that don't sound right.'

'Would you do this if it was in real life? Would you send this to this person if you were talking to them in real life?'

'As a young woman, it's not always easy. It's not always a safe world. The same thing online, being aware of, you know, who I'm talking to, whether or not I know them, like, can I trust this source? Because everything online is not always as it seems.'

'I have the choice and I have the empowerment to be able to not engage with them.'

'Protect is just staying safe online, but also if you see bad behaviour, making sure you say that it's wrong.'

'Rather than be the the larrikin or the clown who's making all the fun and seeing the humour in things, really think hard about the person behind the laugh.'

'At the end of most social media accounts is a real human being and a real person. I think it really, I think that we can... it's good to remember that.'

[Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant speaks]

'The internet plays a huge part in our lives. And while it's given us so many benefits, it also exposes us to many risks.

'When you connect online, reflect on what you're going to say and do, and when you do, you’ll protect yourself and each other.

'Connect. Reflect. Protect.'