Cyber Safety Committee formed to inquire into ‘sexting’

Last week the Australian Senate passed a motion to create a Senate Select Committee on Cyber Safety to inquire into the issue of ‘sexting’ – the practice of sending nude or semi-nude images via a mobile phone or other technology.

Labor Senator for Tasmania, Senator Catryna Bilyk, was elected chair at the Committee’s first meeting.

“I know that Tasmanian parents are concerned about the issue of ‘sexting’ amongst teenage children, in particular the issues relating to the legal ramifications,” Senator Bilyk said.

“The previous Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety found that rates of sexting were continuing to rise and that sexting raises moral, ethical, legal and parenting concerns at a significant time in young people’s lives.”
“This Senate committee will inquire into and report on options for addressing the issue of sexting by minors,” said Senator Bilyk.

While it is not clear how common sexting is in Australia, research from the United States of America shows that the percentage of young people that have received sexting images is considerably higher than the percentage of young people that have sent them.

“This would seem to indicate that images of this nature are commonly forwarded on from the original recipients to third parties, without the knowledge or consent of the person that has originally sent the image,” said Senator Bilyk. “This is a disturbing breach of privacy and could have significant implications on an individual’s self-esteem, future relationships and even future job prospects”.

Once a message or image is sent, it is usually stored on the mobile phone, email inbox or on the social networking site of the individual or the group to whom it was sent.

The image may be posted online by the original recipient or others, used to cyber-bully, or go into collections of such materials.

The Senate Committee will receive advice from experts and various Government departments in the coming weeks.

Terms of Reference:
1) That a select committee, to be known as the Select Committee on Cyber Safety be appointed to inquire into and report on options for addressing the issue of sexting by minors.
Senator Catryna Bilyk Labor Senator for Tasmania Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Cyber Safety