Calling someone a “ugly cow”,a “lying bigot”,accusing them of being a paedophile or using violent language such as “I hope you get bashed” are among the examples of abuse that will not meet threshold contained in new regulatory guidance on how the scheme will operate.
The eSafety Commissioner,Julie Inman Grant,who will release the guidance on Thursday,said the bar for determining what constituted adult cyber abuse had been set deliberately high,to ensure it did not stifle freedom of speech.
“We are talking here about the most serious of abusive posts,intended to cause serious psychological or physical harm,” said Ms Inman Grant.
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“Serious harm could include material which sets out realistic threats,places people in real danger,is excessively malicious or is unrelenting.”
The types of cyber abuse captured by the scheme includes posts,comments,emails,messages,memes,images and videos.
The scheme will allow adults to report instances of serious online abuse to the eSafety Commissioner,who can then issue a take down notice to the online platform. The platform will have 24 hours to comply,with companies facing fines of up to $555,000 if they fail to act.