I need help: Something has happened online

Cyberbullying is when someone online is mean to a person so they feel bad or upset. If this happens to someone under 18, eSafety can use Australian laws to remove the online content and help them.

Adult cyber abuse is when the internet is used to send, post or share content that is harmful to the physical or mental health of someone who is 18 or older. eSafety can remove the content if it’s intended to cause serious harm and is menacing, harassing or offensive in all circumstances. 

The quick facts

Both cyberbullying and adult cyber abuse can happen in any kind of online communication, including posts, comments, texts, messages, chats, livestreams, memes, images, videos or emails.

Sometimes, you might want to deal with these situations on your own by taking actions like muting, unfollowing or removing a user from your follow or friends list. Make sure not to block them just yet, in case you need to make a report. 

Cyberbullying and adult cyber abuse can be really tough. Try these wellbeing tips to help you deal with the stress and recover: 

• How to manage the impacts of cyberbullying
• Real stories about how young people have dealt with cyberbullying
• How to help someone who is dealing with cyberbullying
• How to manage the impacts of adult cyber abuse
• How to help someone who is dealing with adult cyber abuse
• Download the cyberbullying quick guide (available in five languages).

How to report

If you feel like you the situation is getting serious and you would like to make a report, follow these steps:

1. Collect evidence:
   This includes the web page address (URL), user profile names and taking screenshots of what has happened and where. Learn more about how to collect evidence.
    

2. Report it:
   Harmful posts, comments, messages and profiles should be reported to the online platform or service first – many of these links are listed in The eSafety Guide.

   If the service doesn’t help, and the abuse is very serious, report it to eSafety. 

   If you are under 18, you can report it as cyberbullying and if you are 18 or older, you can report it as adult cyber abuse.

3. Stop contact:
   You can use in-app actions like muting, unfollowing or blocking the other user after you have made a report.

   Take a look at updating your security and privacy settings on the platform or app where the interaction has happened. 

   You can use The eSafety Guide to help you find links on how to do this for different apps, games, websites and platforms.

4. Get more support:
   If you are feeling overwhelmed, you can contact Kids Helpline (for 5- to 25-year olds), ReachOut PeerChat (for 16- to 25-year-olds) or another counselling and support service.

   You can also check eSafety's advice pages around how to look after yourself if you have been cyberbullied.

If someone has shared or threatened to share a nude or sexual image or video of you online without your consent, that’s image-based abuse (or ‘revenge porn’) and it’s illegal. Image-based abuse is never OK, and if it’s happened to you it’s not your fault.

'Sextortion' is a type of image-based abuse when someone blackmails you for money or more intimate content. If you're being blackmailed stop all contact and do not pay the blackmailer or give them more money or intimate content. You can get help immediately.

The quick facts

It’s still image-based abuse if the intimate image or video is:

• something you sent to the person
• a screenshot or recording of a live chat (sometimes known as capping)
• a meme
• a fake or deepfake that has been edited to look like you.

An intimate image or video can also include you without clothing of religious or cultural significance, if you normally wear it in public (such as a hijab or turban).

We have pages with more advice on how to deal with different types of image-based abuse:

• My nudes have been shared
• Someone is threatening to share my nudes
• I'm being pressured to send nudes
• Receiving unwanted nudes
• How to deal with sexual extortion.

Image-based abuse can be really tough. Try these wellbeing tips to help you deal with the stress and recover:

• How to manage the impacts of image-based abuse
• How to help someone deal with image-based abuse.

Nudes and the law

It’s important to remember: A person who asks for, accesses, possesses, creates or shares sexualised images of someone under 18 may be at risk of criminal charges – even if you’re both young and you agreed to it. 

Youth Law Australia recommends that you never take or share prohibited or sexual images of someone unless they are over 18 and you are sure they have said it’s OK.

How to report

1. Collect evidence:
   This includes the web page address (URL), user profile names and taking screenshots of what has happened and where. 

   If you're being blackmailed, include the threatening messages and blackmailer’s profile.

   But don’t save or share nudes or sexual images or videos of anyone under 18 or any other illegal or restricted content. Learn more about how to collect evidence.

2. Report it:

   If you’re under 18 and someone has shared or threatened to share your intimate content report it to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE). You can also report it to eSafety so we can remove the content or help stop the threats – you might like to ask someone to help you fill out the report form.

   If you’re 18+ and there’s no blackmail involved, you can make an image-based abuse report to eSafety. Image-based abuse is against the guidelines of most social media services, so if you prefer you can report it to the online service or platform – you’ll find links and other useful info in the The eSafety Guide.

   If you’re 18+ and being blackmailed, report it to any platforms or services where the blackmailer contacted you. If your intimate image or video is shared, it can be reported to eSafety for removal. 

3. Stop contact:
   You can use in-app actions like muting, unfollowing or blocking the other user after you have collected evidence.

   Update your security and privacy settings on any platforms or apps where the interaction happened. 

   You can use The eSafety Guide to help you find links on how to do this for different apps, games, websites and platforms.

4. Get more support:
   If you are feeling overwhelmed, you can contact Kids Helpline (for 5- to 25-year olds), ReachOut PeerChat (for 16- to 25-year-olds) or another counselling and support service.

   You can also check eSafety's advice pages around how to manage the impacts of image-based abuse.

Prevent your image or video being shared further

You can block your intimate image or video from being uploaded to specific platforms. You need a copy of the image or video, but you don’t need to send it to the platform – you can use an online tool to create a digital ‘fingerprint’ (or ‘hash’) instead.

If you’re under 18, you can use takeitdown.ncmec.org – a free online tool that prevents your image or video being shared on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Yubo, OnlyFans and Pornhub.

If you’re 18 or older, you can use StopNCII.org – a free online tool that prevents your image or video being shared on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Bumble, OnlyFans and Reddit.

Unsafe contact is when someone who connects with you online wants to harm you. Often that’s hard to work out at first.

To make matters more complex, unsafe contact doesn’t always come from a stranger – it could be someone you know, like a classmate, someone you work with or play sport against, a relative of one of your friends or even a family member.

Grooming is when a sexual abuser tricks someone who’s under 18 into thinking they’re in a close relationship, so the young person feels OK about sending nudes or getting sexual online. It’s important that you don’t keep it a secret.  

Maybe you’re scared of what the person will do if you tell someone else, or that they’ll get into trouble. You may also be worried that you’ll get into trouble. Or you may not want to give up feeling special. These are all understandable reactions. But it’s important to tell a trusted adult, like a family member or teacher, so they can make sure you’re safe and help prevent your images or videos being shared online.

The quick facts

Some people who contact you may genuinely just want to be friends or to chat. But people like scammers and sexual abusers can be very clever at tricking others online, so trusting your ‘gut instinct’ may not always help you feel when something is wrong.

Unsafe contact might also look like:

• someone catfishing you
• someone sending you unwanted nudes
• someone stalking you online
• someone hacking you.

Read our pages with more advice on how to deal with unsafe contact:

• Unsafe contact or ‘grooming’
• Catfishing
• Receiving unwanted nudes
• Protecting your personally identifiable information.

How can I get help?

It’s important to collect evidence like screenshots of where and how the person contacted you and what they said to make you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, so you have proof. Then you can report their accounts to the platforms and services where they contacted you, and block them. Reporting them helps make online spaces safer for other people too.

• If you're under 18 and you think someone has been grooming you or sexually abusing you, the best way to get help if to report it to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE).
• If someone has shared a nude or intimate image of you, this is ‘image-based abuse’. You can report it to eSafety immediately, so we can help to remove it. If you’re under 18, report it to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE).  
• If you’ve reported other types of seriously harmful content to an online platform or service and they haven’t helped, you can make a report to eSafety and we can help have it removed if it’s part of cyberbullying (if you are under 18) or adult cyber abuse (if you are 18 or older).

Unwanted contact can be distressing. Remember, it’s not your fault and there’s help available. You can always speak to someone at the free Kids Helpline (for 5- to 25 year-olds), or find another counselling and support service that’s right for you.

'Love bombing' is when someone showers you with over-the-top romantic gestures or comments, typically early in a relationship. It can happen in person or online and may be a sign of 'coercive control'.

Coercive control is a pattern of abusive behaviour that develops when someone takes advantage of your strong emotional bond with them to manipulate, pressure or scare you into doing what they want. If it happens online or using digital devices it’s sometimes called ‘tech-based abuse’ or ‘technology-facilitated abuse’.

The quick facts

Controlling behaviours can be hard to spot. Sometimes they look like they're just enthusiastic or over-the-top signs of affection.

But when someone uses a number of tactics – or one tactic repeatedly – and flips unexpectedly between 'hot' and 'cold' in their affections to make you feel guilty, anxious or bad about yourself, it’s likely to be controlling behaviour. Warning signs can include:

• love bombing
• gaslighting
• harassment
• monitoring your activity or cyberstalking you
• pressuring you to 'prove' your love.

How can I get help?

You might like to talk to friends or family members about love, boundaries and consent. But if you don't have someone you're comfortable confiding in – or the people in your life aren't modelling the respect or relationship you want for yourself – there are other places you can turn.

Reach out to 1800RESPECT if you think you may be in a controlling relationship, or the relationship is unsafe. It’s a free and confidential 24/7 domestic, family and sexual violence service.

Or you can contact Lifeline, Kids Helpline (for 5- to 25-year olds), ReachOut PeerChat (for 16- to 25-year-olds) or another counselling and support service.

If you are in immediate danger, call emergency services on Triple Zero (000).

You can also read more advice on signs of tech-based relationship abuse and how to safely report it.

When someone uses a digital device or online platform to harm another person it’s sometimes called tech-based abuse (or technology-facilitated abuse).

Tech-based abuse in families or at home is a type of domestic and family violence. It doesn’t just happen to adults. Young people experience it too.

The quick facts

Sometimes, people might use technology to help keep you safe – like a parent tracking your location – but when this happens without ongoing conversations and your consent, it can cross a line.

It may even form a pattern of controlling behaviour that makes you feel unsafe, threatened or disrespected – and that’s not OK.

How can I get help?

If you’re in danger, you might not be able to act right now. It's OK to wait. Your safety comes first, so do what feels right for you.

Here are some things you can do in the meantime:

• Stay aware of patterns or changes in their behaviour. Noticing what’s happening is a powerful first step.
• Keep in touch with someone you trust, even casually. Staying connected can make it easier to reach out later.
• Plan and think about who you’d contact or where you’d go if you needed to act quickly.
• If it’s safe to do so, try to keep a record of what’s been happening – it could help you later. This could be screenshots, messages, call logs, or notes about what was said and when.
• Use a safer device that you are not worried about the abuser being able to access, like a friend’s or school library computer.

If you are in immediate danger, call emergency services on Triple Zero (000).

You can find more tips and advice for specific situations on our page for young people called Tech-based abuse in families or at home.

No one should have to see online content they find disturbing or unacceptable. If the content is illegal or restricted, eSafety can direct an online platform or service to remove it. 

The quick facts

There are different types of disturbing content you may see online:

• Illegal content: this may show, describe, promote, or encourage violent crimes. This can include child sexual abuse, terrorist acts, murder, attempted murder, rape or torture.
• Violent content: this can include images or stories of self-harm or actual harm.
• Age-inappropriate content: this can include sexual images or any material that is unsuitable for children and young people under 18.

If you see this type of content posted in a public place online, don’t share it – even if your intention is to help, or raise awareness. Sharing this content may cause distress to others and you may be committing a crime.

What can I do?

1. Report to eSafety
   If someone sends you a link to violent, inappropriate or illegal material, you can report it to eSafety straight away. Your report can be anonymous. 

   Learn more about how to report illegal or restricted online content, and how to collect evidence of this type of content.

2. Report to the platform

   The eSafety Guide has information about how to report content on different online platforms. 

3. Check your privacy settings and add content filters
   It’s a good idea to check your privacy settings to help stop people sending you content you don’t want to see. 

   You might also want to use a filter or other tool to block certain content, and use safe search settings in your browser to protect yourself in future – although be aware that no filter is 100% effective.

4. Get more support
   Talking to someone can make it easier to decide what to do and deal with the impact. You can also get help from confidential counselling and support services.
    

Read more on our page about how to deal with disturbing content and illegal content.

It’s likely you’ve heard of fake news before – it’s used to describe false or misleading information. Fake ‘news’ can be hard to spot and even harder to define.

The quick facts

‘Fake news’, ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’ are often used to mean the same thing, but there are some differences.

• Fake news: This refers to false information that has been created in a way that makes it look like a trustworthy news report.
• Misinformation: This is incorrect or misleading information presented as fact, on purpose or by mistake.
• Disinformation: This is information that the creator knows is not true. It can include made-up statistics and scientific opinions.

What can I do?

We can all help to identify and report fake or incorrect information. Reporting it can prevent its spread, and help to keep your community feeling safe and clear about what the truth is.

Explore our tips for spotting fake news for more advice.

Remember: it’s OK to turn off and take a break from fact-checking information because it can be overwhelming! If the heading upsets you or you’d prefer not to learn more, you don’t have to engage.

It’s also important to remember: your social media algorithm affects what you see. There’s no way to know every detail that goes into algorithms, but if you like a post, it could mean that you will start to receive similar posts on this topic.