A regulator with takedown power gives families real recourse — report harmful content and have it removed, not just block it yourself.
- Blocking protects your own feed; reporting can get harmful content removed for everyone.
- Find out which body in your country actually has authority to compel a takedown before you need it.
- Save evidence first — screenshots and links — because a removal request is only as strong as its proof.
- Tell your teen that formal channels exist and that using them is a real, effective option, not a dead end.
The situation, the move, the outcome.
Australia created the world's first government eSafety Commissioner — a regulator that gives kids and parents a place to report cyberbullying and image-based abuse, plus the legal power to compel platforms to remove it. Under the Online Safety Act, eSafety has investigated thousands of cyberbullying complaints and made hundreds of removal requests, and it has completed more than 16,000 child-exploitation investigations, with 99% referred to the international INHOPE network for rapid removal.
What makes this approach work in practice is that it changes who carries the burden: instead of a frightened teen or parent pleading with a platform's support form, an external authority can require action. The practical steps for a family stay simple — preserve evidence, file through the official route, and let the regulator apply the leverage a private individual lacks. Reporting also doesn't replace the immediate self-protective moves; a family can block, mute, and use platform tools while the formal request proceeds in parallel. The combination matters because it addresses both the felt distress now and the content's continued existence.
Why it matters beyond one family.
The model matters because it shifts the burden off the individual victim: instead of begging a platform, families have a regulator that can require action. Other countries are studying the approach.
The lesson generalizes because the core problem — a single person facing a global platform alone — is the same everywhere, even where the specific regulator isn't. Wherever a society creates a credible reporting body with real authority, it rebalances that lopsided contest in the family's favor. For parents in other countries, the takeaway isn't the agency's name but the habit: learn your local reporting channel, keep evidence, and treat formal routes as something that actually works. That mindset shift — from helpless blocking to documented reporting — is portable far beyond any one nation's law.
- The model puts the law on the family's side, so a victim isn't left negotiating alone with a platform.
- It pairs a place to report with the power to act, which is what turns complaints into actual removals.
- Its reach extends beyond one country through an international network built for rapid removal.
- Other governments are studying the approach, which suggests the recourse it offers may keep spreading.
How to apply it.
- Know whether your country has a reporting body with takedown authority.
- Document and report harmful content rather than only blocking it yourself.
- Teach teens that formal reporting routes exist and work.
Someone reposted an embarrassing photo of me and people keep sharing it. I already blocked them.
I'm really glad you told me. Blocking stops you seeing it, but it doesn't take it down — let's work on getting it removed.
Can we even do that? It feels like it's just out there now.
We can. First let's quietly screenshot everything — the post, the account, the links — so we have proof.
And then what?
Then we report it through the platform and to the proper safety body. There are official routes that can require it to come down.
Okay. I didn't know any of that existed.
Most people don't until they need it. You did the right thing bringing it to me — we'll handle the rest together.
Concrete next steps.
- In Australia, report to eSafety.gov.au; in the US, use NCMEC's CyberTipline.
- Keep evidence (screenshots, URLs) to support a removal request.
- Combine reporting with platform tools and, for sextortion, the FBI.
Read it for yourself.
- eSafety Commissioner — putting new tools to work esafety.gov.au ↗
- eSafety Commissioner — report cyberbullying esafety.gov.au ↗
- eSafety Commissioner — report online harm esafety.gov.au ↗
If your teen is being sextorted: do not pay, do not delete anything, and stop all contact with the offender. Save the messages and usernames. Report to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI and to NCMEC's CyberTipline at CyberTipline.org. Use NCMEC's free Take It Down tool (takeitdown.ncmec.org) to stop images from spreading. For emotional crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, 24/7).
