Top cop eyes ‘crime-influencers’ amid social media ban
Tess Ikonomou |
A looming social media ban for under-16s won’t be a silver bullet in addressing online safety for young people, the new head of the federal police warns.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said every family needed to discuss online and social media use ahead of the ban’s implementation in December.
“The age verification and the age standards is a great initiative, but it’s not going to solve the problem on its own,” she told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.
“A big part of that is the ongoing prevention, the ongoing education and the ongoing reporting.”
Ms Barrett said parents needed to be wary and vigilant.
In her speech, she said girls were hunted by young men online who were coercing vulnerable victims into carrying out “twisted” acts of violence against themselves, their families and pets.
In Australia, three domestic arrests had been made and 59 alleged offenders identified as members of these decentralised online crime networks.
A task force will be set up to target these networks and “crime-influencer” perpetrators.
Young people have been reached on platforms including Roblox and messaging apps such as Telegram.
Asked if these platforms should be captured in the ban, Ms Barrett said she wouldn’t be singling out particular sites.
“Parents really need to know … what is your child doing online,” she said.
“The rapidness of the radicalisation or the exploitation, it can just happen so quickly.”
The girls being targeted tended to have low-self esteem, mental health issues and a history of self-harm, Ms Barrett said.
Previously serving as the agency’s deputy commissioner with oversight of national security, Ms Barrett said the Indo-Pacific was facing intense strategic competition with some nations and criminals more willing to “test the resolve of democracies and our social cohesion”.
“What we are also seeing … is now a blurring of lines between state actors and state-sponsored activity blurring across organised crime networks in this country,” she said.
“Which is causing us to really have another look at how do we combat such a complex blurring of criminal lines.”
Ms Barrett made history as the first woman to be appointed to the agency’s top job and is the AFP’s ninth commissioner.
In a 25-year career in law enforcement, Ms Barrett was involved in the Solomon Islands peacekeeping efforts and the Bali bombings investigation.
She started at the AFP as a 21-year-old administrative assistant in its Melbourne office before moving up the ranks to take charge, something she “never imagined” would occur.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
AAP
