Australians support stronger safeguards to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse online, a recent opinion poll shows.
A representative survey of 1005 adults by research firm Norstat for the Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub at UNSW Sydney has found significant public concern about the online safety of children – and support for government intervention.
Ahead of the federal election, it has led Childlight, a global child safety institute, to urge Australian politicians to make online child safety a national priority.
The poll results indicate that almost three quarters of Australians (73%) believe children are not safe on social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. An even higher proportion – 86% – indicated that the Australian government should do more to prevent online child sexual exploitation and abuse.
“There is no ambiguity in what Australians are telling us,” said Professor Michael Salter, director of the Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub at UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture.
“Parents and citizens are deeply concerned about the risks children face online, and they want bold, practical action from their leaders. Our children deserve digital environments that are designed with their safety in mind,” he said.
Among the key findings:
- + Nine out of 10 respondents (89%) favour robust age verification to stop children accessing pornography websites, with 4% opposed and 5% unsure. While the government has committed to implementing age verification on pornography, there are currently no safeguards in place.
- + Some 92% support the ban on online apps that allow mobile phone users to create fake nude images of people, including children, with just 3% opposed. New industry standards currently oblige major app stores to remove apps that enable the creation of non-consensual nude or sexual imagery.
- + The same proportion (92%) support stricter regulation of major tech platforms such as Google, Meta and Apple to actively detect and remove child sexual abuse material from their online platforms, provided that user privacy is respected. (For example, there is technology that can unobtrusively scan images and videos for abuse without collecting data on individual users.)
- + More than two-thirds would back the criminal prosecution of tech executives whose platforms fail to prevent child sexual abuse, a law that was recently introduced in the Philippines.
- +Three-quarters (76%) back the government’s ban on people under 16 accessing social media, while 12% are opposed and 11% are unsure.
- + And 88% of adults would favour a requirement for people to verify their age and identity while using social media in order to protect minors from people who sexually offend against children, often by pretending to be children themselves.
Crucially, trust in social media companies to protect children is low, with many respondents expressing scepticism about the industry’s willingness to act without stronger government intervention. Just one in five (21%) believe that major social media companies are genuinely committed to keeping children safe online, while about two-thirds (65%) believe they are not and 11% are neutral on the issue.
Childlight recently produced the world’s first global estimate of the prevalence of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation and abuse of children, indicating that it affects over 300 million children annually, or ten every second.
Earlier this month it published research revealing that men who sexually offend against children are nearly four times more likely to use dating sites than non-offenders amid concern that abusers may try to groom single mothers to gain access to their children.
Calls for a proactive approach and accountability
The poll suggests that, while some recent reforms, such as the Online Safety Act 2021 and moves by the eSafety Commissioner, are steps in the right direction, the public clearly believes more must be done.
“These findings show clear support for the efforts of Australian governments and the eSafety Commissioner to keep children safe,” said Prof. Salter.
"The proactive detection and removal of child sexual abuse material, which is a measure that the technology sector has fiercely opposed here in Australia and overseas, is crucial to stopping the proliferation of abuse content. The amount of child abuse material online has increased every year for the last twenty years. It’s clear that more action has to be taken.
"Stronger accountability measures for technology companies who put children at risk of sexual exploitation, including criminal accountability, would send a clear message to technology companies that their decisions are having a catastrophic impact on the safety of children and the lives of survivors of child sexual abuse. The executives who make those decisions should be accountable for them.
"And identity verification would make sure that we are all accountable for what we do online. It would stop adults masquerading as children and make sure that people perpetrating online sexual abuse can’t hide. The vast majority of Australian adults are willing to dispense with online anonymity, and verify their identities, if it means that children are protected from sexual abuse,” said Prof. Salter.
“Tech companies have immense power – and with that comes responsibility,” said Professor Debi Fry, Childlight’s Global Director of Data.
“We want industry and decision-makers to urgently work together on preventive steps to protect children from this global health emergency because children can’t wait,” she said.
ENDS
Norstat interviewed a representative sample of 1,005 adults aged 18 years and over on March 15-April 2, 2025. See tables attached.
Childlight Global Child Safety Institute was established by Human Dignity Foundation and is hosted by the University of South Wales and the University of Edinburgh.
Contact details:
Samantha Dunn
UNSW Sydney
0414 924 364