Online rules

Doing the right thing online

The internet offers many platforms to express yourself in different ways. But it’s important to balance that freedom with a responsibility to other people.

It's important to know what's allowed online to keep yourself and others safe. A good digital citizen communicates respectfully and honestly online.

Children and young people need to know that social media platforms have rules around what you can and can’t say online. Similarly, online forums usually have rules written into their terms and conditions too. The admins can ban you if you break the rules.

Youth Law Australia recommends to think carefully before you say anything about a person online or in an email or message. What you do online is permanent, and potentially public, even after you've deleted it.

Problems can arise online from:

• cyberbullying – when a person uses technology to bully someone
• defamation – when someone spreads lies that damage a person's reputation
• violating privacy – sharing images or recordings without permission
• copyright infringement – using someone's work without permission.

Cyberbullying

Using technology to bully a child or young person is known as cyberbullying. It can be a serious issue for the bully and the bullied, and in some cases can even be a crime.

If you're a teacher, find lesson plans on cyberbullying.

If you're a parent or carer, find advice about managing cyberbullying.

Go to the eSafety Commissioner to find out about cyberbullying. They offer advice on getting harmful content removed and advocate for children and young people in serious cases. Youth Law Australia also talks about cyberbullying.

Defamation

Defamation means damaging someone’s reputation by spreading lies about them. If someone posts a lie about you that would cause the average person to think less of you, you may have been defamed. It's also known as slander or libel.

Defamation Act 2005 was set up to protect people's reputations. If you believe someone is defaming you online, collecting as much evidence as possible (like screenshots of the defamatory content) is important.

Go to Youth Law Australia for more about defamation.

Images and privacy

Most of us use our mobile devices for taking photos and videos without a second thought.

However, privacy can be an issue if the subject hasn't given permission. It depends partly on where the image is taken, especially whether it's a public or private space. Always ask permission, even if you're in the photo or recording yourself.

Even if you're over 18, sharing intimate photos and videos can be a very serious crime. Just asking for intimate images is a crime in some states and territories, depending on who is being asked. Sexting can be a crime if it involves people under 18, even if they have consented.

Go to Youth Law Australia for a breakdown of laws around online privacy, image-based abuse, sexting and getting into trouble on social media.

If someone has shared an image or recording of you without your permission, you can visit the eSafety Commissioner to report image-based abuse.

Copyright

You can watch, read or listen to a wide variety of content online. But it doesn't mean you can make a copy of that material, change it or publish it without permission.

Content creators have a right to make money from their original work. They could be writers, musicians, or photographers. Respect for the intellectual property of others is part of being a good digital citizen.

Copyright means creators of an original work get to decide whether and how others can use their work. When you buy copyrighted content, like a movie or song, you're bound by rights to what you can do with your copy.

Different content can have different copyright permissions.

Educational screenings

Educators can show a Netflix original documentary to their class for one-time educational screenings. The terms of the copyright say the screening must be non-profit.

Download The Australian Copyright Council's fact sheets for teachers and students.

Public domain

Material that is in the public domain has no exclusive copyright holder, so anyone can use it.

Creators can either:

• produce content for the public domain, or
• it can become part of the public domain after its term of copyright expires.

Creative Commons

Some people create content under a Creative Commons (CC) licence. This allows people to use their content in a variety of ways for free, within set restrictions. For instance, most CC licenses allow you to alter and share the content if you credit the original creator.

CC licences are easy to understand and follow compared to other licensing agreements. Go to wikimedia.org for a fact sheet called What does creative commons mean?.

If you're looking for images or music for a website or other project, you can find collections of CC-licensed material online, for free.

Find CC content at the following sites.

• For music go to freemusicarchive.org 
• For videos go to smartcopying.edu.au
• For images visit search.creativecomms.org