Taking action
You have multiple pathways for help and support. You can:
Report the abuse to the social media service’s safety centre. Depending on the platform, you can generally also block, report, ignore or mute the abuse.
If technology is being used to abuse, stalk, threaten or defame you, there are laws that can help. Collecting evidence will be important if you want to take legal action.
You can also take steps to bury negative commentary. You can alter the context of the discussion with constructive comments or positive messaging. Even pinning a post about a community’s rules to the top of a discussion page can encourage better standards of civility.
Ways to respond to Cyber Abuse
Select a subject below
Trolling
I have received sustained severe abuse or harrasment, including physical threats, stalking and/or sexual harrassment.
How do I respond?
Collect Preserve evidence
Block Don’t respond and block unwanted contact
Support Seek support
Review Review and update your social media privacy and security settings
If you are at risk of immediate harm, call triple zero (000)
Image-based abuse
Someone is sharing or threatening to share intimate images of me without my consent.
How do I respond?
Collect Preserve evidence
Block Don’t respond and block unwanted contact
Report Report to us
Support Seek support
Review Review and update your social media privacy and security settings
If you are at risk of immediate harm, call triple zero (000)
Sextortion
Someone is using my intimate images to blackmail me.
How do I respond?
Collect Preserve evidence
Block Don’t respond and block unwanted contact
Report Report to us
Support Seek support
Review Review and update your social media privacy and security settings
If you are at risk of immediate harm, call triple zero (000)
Impersonation/Fake account
A fake social media account has been set up in my name.
How do I respond?
Collect Preserve evidence
Block Don’t respond/ignore
Review Review and update your social media privacy and security settings
If you are at risk of immediate harm, call triple zero (000)
Doxing
My personal details have been shared or publicised online. It may result in offensive comments and unwanted calls or visits from strangers.
How do I respond?
Collect Preserve evidence
Block Block unwanted contact
Review Review and update your social media privacy and security settings
If you are at risk of immediate harm, call triple zero (000)
DeepFakes/Morphing/FaceSwapping
My face has been morphed onto another person’s body in sexually explicit material posted online.
How do I respond?
Collect Preserve evidence
Block Block unwanted contact
Report Report to us
Support Seek support
Review Review and update your social media privacy and security settings
If you are at risk of immediate harm, call triple zero (000)
Defamatory comments
Someone has posted defamatory comments online intented to harm my reputation.
How do I respond?
Collect Preserve evidence
Block Block unwanted contact
Report Report to the social media platform
Seek legal help
Support You can alter the context of the discussion with constructive comments or positive messaging. Even pinning a post about a community’s rules to the top of a discussion page can encourage better standards of civility.
Review Review and update your social media privacy and security settings
If you are at risk of immediate harm, call triple zero (000)
Take control of your online space
By following social media safety tips:
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Settings
Check that the settings on your social media accounts keep your personal information private.
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Personal details
Keep personal details such as your address, email address, phone number and birthdate private.
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Social posting
Don’t post anything that may put you in danger, affect your reputation or be used against you or your family.
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Hashtags
Don’t hashtag anything you don’t want to become public. Anything with a hashtag is searchable on the internet, depending on your privacy settings.
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Location services
If you don’t want people to know where you are, disable the location services on your device and avoid ‘checking in’ to places and venues. Set permissions in your settings so that others cannot tag or post videos or photos of you.
You can report abuse to us
Getting help and support
If you are in danger or experiencing distress, you can get legal help and counselling support.