A teenage boy charged over a social media post that ranked female students into disturbing categories has agreed to participate in a diversion program, police say.
Warning: This story contains offensive language and references to sexual violence.
Police began investigations last month after an Instagram post, which has since been deleted, ranked some students at a Gold Coast high school into categories such as “abduction material”, “one night stand”, “average” and “unrapeable”.
The education department described the post as “vile” and officers from the Gold Coast District Child Protection and Investigation Unit launched an investigation.
On Wednesday, Queensland Police said a 17-year-old boy had been charged with three counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence.
Senior Sergeant Greg Aubort said the case highlighted the serious consequences of using online platforms to intimidate or harass.
He said the charges served as a reminder of the importance of responsible digital and social media behaviour.
“Police urge the community to remain vigilant and report any instances of cyberbullying or online harassment,” Senior Sergeant Aubort said.
“Such behaviour not only affects the wellbeing of individuals but also carries significant legal ramifications.”
In a statement, Queensland Police said the teenager was dealt with under the Youth Justice Act and received a diversion.
Diversion programs are designed to keep children out of contact with the court system and involve an agreement between the justice department and the child for the child to participate in programs to address behaviour.
The act says this can include remedial actions, activities and educational programs to help them understand their behaviour.
Last month, a mother of one of the 17 Foxwell State Secondary College students included in the post said it was difficult to remove the post from social media.
“It’s everywhere, people have screen-shotted it and reposted it on their Facebook or Instagram,” she said speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect her daughter’s identity.
Charges come amid social media debate
There has been growing debate over children’s access to social media.
Federally, the Opposition has pledged to ban children aged under 16 from social media, while the government has expressed support for a ban if it could be proven to be effective.
But experts have warned it is not so simple.
Bond University communication and media professor Jeffrey Brand said the proposed law change to ban under 16-year-olds from accessing social media wouldn’t address the issues that arose in the Gold Coast case.
“Unfortunately, this young man would have been old enough, even under the proposed legislation to restrict social media access by age to have received or to have had access to social media,” he said.
Professor Brand said certain responsibilities came with having access to mobile phones and social media.
“I don’t think that’s clear to people,” he said.
Professor Brand said social media could be harmful, and warnings could help.
It comes as the US surgeon general has sought tobacco-like warning labels for the platforms.
“We need legal warnings on social media to say, ‘use of this platform will harm you’,” he said.
“We know that there are horrible mental and physical health outcomes from use and misuse of social media.
“And sadly, we know from several studies in Australia and overseas, that the use of social media creates a whole range of harms for users, particularly to minors and women.”
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