So why are we isolating children from online support?

Australia’s intention to protect children from online harm is understandable — but like many in this field, I’m deeply worried about the unintended consequences, especially for children already living with risk.

Across Australia, the UK and globally, the evidence is the same and unequivocal:
the biggest danger to children is rarely “out there” on the internet — it is in the places where they live, sleep and should feel safe.

🇦🇺 Australia: What the evidence shows
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reports annually that most child maltreatment — including sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect — happens within the family environment.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) also states clearly that children living with domestic or family violence face a significantly higher likelihood of experiencing all forms of maltreatment, including sexual abuse.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner reports that children frequently turn to online spaces to seek help privately, especially when they cannot speak to someone at home.

Yet the current policy conversation gives little recognition to how removing access may cut children off from:

• information
• crisis lines
• helplines
• peer support
• and safe adults
— often the only lifelines available when home is unsafe.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom: The same pattern
The Office of the Children’s Commissioner found that 1 in 8 children in England and Wales experience sexual abuse, and the CSA Centre confirms that most of that abuse is committed by someone the child knows, often within the family environment.

NSPCC research shows that 62% of children living with domestic violence are directly harmed by a parent or caregiver, and the UK Safer Internet Centre found that 1 in 4 young people seek help or support online for issues related to safety, mental health or abuse.

Restricting online access also removes children’s ability to reach crisis lines, helplines and verified support organisations — often the only safe adults they have.

Taking away access does not make these children safer.
It isolates them further inside already unsafe environments.

🌍 Global evidence: this is not unique
The World Health Organization states that 93% of child sexual abuse globally is committed by someone the child knows, not strangers online.

More than 1 billion children worldwide experience violence every year (WHO/UNICEF).
UNICEF’s global research is clear:
online harm often amplifies offline vulnerability — it does not replace it.

Children who are isolated, abused or silenced offline are the most likely to need online routes to help.

🧩 A crucial truth we’re missing

“Online harms are only one piece of the jigsaw. To protect children, we must face the full picture of harm — including the dangers hidden behind closed doors.”
— Chris Tuck, Dec 2025

The full picture includes domestic abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, coercive control and household adversity — harms that overwhelmingly happen offline and out of sight.

Removing online access does not address these harms.

It simply removes the routes children use to seek support.

🌐 Why this policy worries me globally
If Australia — a recognised leader in online safety — adopts a restrictive “limit access” approach, other governments may copy it as a quick political win. History shows that online safety policy spreads internationally.

And the danger is a global trend of isolating children from the digital world instead of demanding safer platforms with real accountability.

Restriction is not protection. It is displacement of risk — onto the very children we claim to protect.

🟦 Lived experience matters
As a teenager in the early 1980s, I genuinely believe that if we had digital access, I could have reached out and found the lifeline I desperately needed.

Mobile phones simply weren’t accessible then — I didn’t get my first one until my twenties, and even that had no internet.
For many children today, the digital lifeline I never had is the difference between silence and survival.

🟦 The real issue: system accountability, not child isolation
We must stop thinking of “online safety” as the opposite of “online access.”
Children’s safety comes from safe access, not no access.

Online spaces are not just places where harm occurs — they are also places where young people access lifelines.

Taking those lifelines away does not remove risk. It removes visibility, connection and support.

The answer is not to isolate children.

The answer is to enforce:
• a legal duty of care for tech companies
• safety-by-design
• robust moderation and reporting systems
• and true accountability for digital platforms

Children should not disappear from the online world because adults refuse to fix it.

They deserve connection, protection and the right to reach help wherever they are — especially when home is not safe.

#ChildProtection #OnlineSafety #DigitalRights #Safeguarding #TraumaInformed #DomesticAbuse #CSA #ChildWelfare #DutyOfCare #SafetyByDesign #TechAccountability #ProtectChildren

🇦🇺 Australia
AIHW – Child Protection Australia
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/child-protection/child-protection-australia
AIFS – Children Exposed to Domestic and Family Violence
https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and-practice-papers/children-exposed-domestic-and-family-violence
eSafety Commissioner – Youth Online Safety Research
https://www.esafety.gov.au/research

🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Office of the Children’s Commissioner – Protecting Children from Harm (1 in 8 prevalence)
https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/report/protecting-children-from-harm/
CSA Centre – Intra-familial CSA: Key Messages from Research
https://www.csacentre.org.uk/research-resources/key-messages/intrafamilial-csa/
NSPCC – How Safe Are Our Children?
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/about-us/news-opinion/how-safe-are-our-children/
UK Safer Internet Centre – Young People’s Experiences Online
https://saferinternet.org.uk/blog/young-peoples-experiences-online

🌍 Global
WHO – Global Status Report on Violence Against Children (93% CSA by known person)
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240095687
Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children – Key Facts
https://www.end-violence.org/
UNICEF – The State of the World’s Children: Children in a Digital World
https://www.unicef.org/publications/state-worlds-children-2017