Dear Justin,

We are writing in relation to your correspondence of 24 February 2021.

We confirm that we are happy to handle your request as an administrative
access request, rather than pursuant to the formal process outlined under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act). Relevantly, section
3A(2) of the FOI Act specifically states that the Act does not limit an
agency’s power to give access to information under other legislative or
administrative arrangements.

Given this is not a formal freedom of information request, please provide
a direct email address that we can use to correspond with you about your
administrative access request.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

FOI Coordinator

eSafety enquiries

The eSafety Commissioner

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eSafety acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, water, culture and
community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

_____________________________________________________________________________

-----Original Message-----

From: Justin Warren <[6][FOI #7106 email]>

Sent: Wednesday, 24 February 2021 3:20 PM

To: [7][Children’s eSafety Commissioner request email]

Subject: Freedom of Information request - Documents containing statistics
on reports and outcomes

Dear eSafety Commissioner,

If possible, please treat this as an informal or administrative request.
Otherwise, please treat this as a formal request for documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982.

I request copies of documents created between 1 Jan 2020 and 1 Jan 2021,
inclusive, that contain the following information:

- The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner, and their
category (e.g. image-based abuse, cyber-bullying, illegal or harmful
content, etc.)

- The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that resulted in
a successful takedown of content, and the type of content that was taken
down or otherwise removed.

- The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that did not
result in a successful takedown of content, and the reason the takedown
was unsuccessful.

- The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that were not
actionable or were abandoned, and the reason they were not actionable or
were abandoned.

- The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that were
determined to be fake, malicious, or otherwise not made in good faith.

- The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that were repeats
or follow-ups to earlier reports.

- The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that were
appealed by either the subject of the report or the platform hosting the
content, and the outcome of that appeal.

- The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that resulted in
a takedown of content where the takedown was later found to have been made
in error.

If there are multiple drafts of a document, I request only the final
version of a document. If there is no final version of a document, then I
request only the latest draft. For the avoidance of doubt, if a document
is regularly produced, such as a monthly report, I request the final or
latest draft of each report (i.e. monthly for monthly reports, weekly for
weekly reports, etc.)

I request that the documents be provided in electronic form.

I further request that any charges associated with this request be waved
on public interest grounds. The eSafety Commissioner administers a
substantial budget and its ability to effectively use this budget to
achieve its objectives is a matter of public interest; effective oversight
of public expenditure is a key function of the Freedom of Information Act.
The requested documents will also help to inform debate on issues are that
of public importance.

Yours faithfully,

Justin Warren

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[8][FOI #7106 email]

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Hi Justin,

Thank you for your email confirming withdrawal of your request under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).

We are currently processing your administrative access request and
anticipate being able to send you our response early next week.

Thank you for your patience.

Kind regards,

eSafety enquiries

The eSafety Commissioner

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-----Original Message-----
From: Justin Warren <[FOI #7106 email]>
Sent: Monday, 15 March 2021 4:12 PM
To: [Children’s eSafety Commissioner request email]
Subject: Re: Response from eSafety [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

Dear [7][Children’s eSafety Commissioner request email],

As discussed over email, I withdraw this FOI request and look forward to
receiving the information I have requested administratively.

Yours sincerely,

Justin Warren

-----Original Message-----

Dear Justin,

We are writing in relation to your correspondence of 24 February 2021.

We confirm that we are happy to handle your request as an administrative

access request, rather than pursuant to the formal process outlined under

the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act). Relevantly, section

3A(2) of the FOI Act specifically states that the Act does not limit an

agency’s power to give access to information under other legislative or

administrative arrangements.

Given this is not a formal freedom of information request, please provide

a direct email address that we can use to correspond with you about your

administrative access request.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

FOI Coordinator

eSafety enquiries

The eSafety Commissioner

[1]Email-Footers icons3   [2]esafety.gov.au

[3]Email-Footers iconsT    [4]Email-Footers iconsF    [5]Email-Footers

iconsL

eSafety acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout

Australia and their continuing connection to land, water, culture and

community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

_____________________________________________________________________________

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[8][FOI #7106 email]

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet.
More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:

[9]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended
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and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized
review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the
intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy
all
copies of the original message.

References

Visible links
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3. https://www.esafety.gov.au/
4. https://twitter.com/esafetyoffice
5. https://www.facebook.com/eSafetyOffice/
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7. mailto:[Children’s eSafety Commissioner request email]
8. mailto:[FOI #7106 email]
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hide quoted sections

Dear Justin,

Please see below responses to your administrative access request.

 1. The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner, and their
category (e.g. image-based abuse, cyber-bullying, illegal or harmful
content, etc.)

 a. Cyber Report - 24,198 URLs reported between 1 January 2020 and 28
February 2021.
 b. Image-based abuse - 3660 reports received between 1 January 2020 and
28 February 2021.
 c. Cyberbullying - 2699 reports received between 1 January 2020 and 28
February 2021.

 2. The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that resulted
in a successful takedown of content, and the type of content that was
taken down or otherwise removed.

 a. Cyber Report

                                                               i.     
Cyber Report prioritises the investigation of online child sexual abuse
material (CSAM). In 2020, all CSAM investigations were hosted overseas and
referred to law enforcement. eSafety does not have visibility of what
happens to our CSAM results once they are referred to law enforcement
partners.

                                                             ii.      In
the time period, we issued 6 Abhorrent Violent Material (AVM) notices, 5
of which led to removal. AVM notices put a provider on notice of material
that if it is not removed could lead to prosecution under the Criminal
Code (Cth).

 b. Image-based abuse

                                                               i.     
During the 2019-2020 annual reporting period, eSafety was successful in
having image-based abuse material removed in 82 per cent of cases where
removal was requested.

                                                             ii.     
During the 2019-2020 annual reporting period, eSafety also alerted social
media services to almost 970 accounts that were being misused to share, or
threaten to share, intimate content.

                                                           iii.      The
majority of the material was posted on exposé or pornography sites.

 c. Cyberbullying

                                                               i.     
Approximately 90% of the material eSafety requested to be removed in 2020
was removed.

 3. The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that did not
result in a successful takedown of content, and the reason the
takedown was unsuccessful.

 a. Reports may not always result in the takedown of content. Further,
where a request is made for removal of content, eSafety may not
always know the outcome of such a request. Examples of why this may
be the case include:  

                                                               i.      the
fact that the matter may be dealt with by local or overseas law
enforcement partners. For example, eSafety does not have visibility of
what happens to our CSAM results once they are referred to law enforcement
partners;

                                                             ii.      the
fact that not all reports require the removal of content. For example
reporters are often seeking advice about their options, including in
relation to preventative action.  In addition, where a report relates to a
threat to share intimate images, rather than actual sharing of intimate
images this will also be captured by the scheme even where the images have
not been posted online;

                                                           iii.     
 eSafety may take other steps to assist reporters. For example, where
eSafety is unable to effect removal of intimate content posted online, it
takes steps to limit the discoverability of the content, typically by
requesting removal of the content from search engine results;

                                                           iv.     
material may have already been removed; or

                                                             v.      where
there are mitigating circumstances of which eSafety was previously unaware
because of subscriber or privacy walls.

 4. The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that were not
actionable or were abandoned, and the reason they were not actionable
or were abandoned.

eSafety does not ‘abandon’ any reports. When exercising our discretion to
investigate, and consider what action to take, we consider a number of
different matters, depending on the applicable legislative scheme, as set
out below:

 a. Cyber Report

                                                               i.      All
content that is reported to Cyber Report is assessed by an investigator to
determine hosting location and likely classification under the National
Classification Scheme.

                                                             ii.     
Cyber Report prioritises investigations into online CSAM, pro-terror
content, and Australian-hosted prohibited content.

                                                           iii.      The
team exercises discretion where content is not sufficiently serious.

 b. Image-based abuse

                                                               i.      The
most common reason reports are not actioned is because there is no
Australian connection, as required by the legislation.

                                                             ii.      Less
common reasons for reports not being actioned include the report not
involving intimate content (as defined by the legislation) or the reporter
having no standing to report under the legislation.

                                                           iii.     
Whether eSafety can take action also depends on whether we have received
sufficient information or whether we require more information from the
complainant and are waiting for this to be provided.

                                                           iv.      Unless
a report is deemed a hoax, eSafety always responds to complainants and
provides advice, even when a report is assessed as not actionable or where
the complainant does not continue to engage with us.

 c. Cyberbullying

                                                               i.     
Often a matter will be closed because the complainant doesn’t respond to a
request for more information.

                                                             ii.     
Matters also may not meet the legislative threshold for serious
cyberbullying, so won’t result in removal requests to the providers.

                                                           iii.      In
these cases, we still provide advice and support to the complainant with
managing cyberbullying and building resilience.

 5. The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that were
determined to be fake, malicious, or otherwise not made in good faith.

In respect of hoax, frivolous or vexatious complaints:

 a. Cyber Report

                                                               i.      No
complaints have been considered to be hoax, frivolous or vexatious
complaints.

 b. Image-based abuse

                                                               i.     
Only  a very small number of reports have been considered to
be hoax reports. eSafety generally provides a response to all reports if
valid contact details are provided.

 c. Cyberbullying

                                                               i.      169
complaints were identified as hoaxes.

 6. The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that were
repeats or follow-ups to earlier reports.

Individuals commonly re-engage with eSafety on the same or connected
reports for a number of reasons.

The nature of some material, such as CSAM, means it is likely to be
reposted at different URLs, which may result in people making multiple
reports about the same content at different locations. Online content
reports can also be made anonymously.

Victims of image-based abuse may also discover new content online and
report this additional content to eSafety. These reports are generally
saved on the original report file. Additionally, multiple reports are
sometimes submitted on or around the same time as the initial report.
These are categorised as ‘duplicate reports’.

 7. The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that were
appealed by either the subject of the report or the platform hosting
the content, and the outcome of that appeal.

No reports have been subject to appeal

 8. The number of reports made to the eSafety Commissioner that resulted
in a takedown of content where the takedown was later found to have
been made in error.

No reports that have resulted in takedown/removal of content have later
been found to have been made in error.

Thank you again for your patience.

Regards,

eSafety enquiries

The eSafety Commissioner

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eSafety acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, water, culture and
community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

-----Original Message-----

From: Justin Warren <[8][FOI #7106 email]>

Sent: Monday, 15 March 2021 4:12 PM

To: [9][Children’s eSafety Commissioner request email]

Subject: Re: Response from eSafety [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

Dear [10][Children’s eSafety Commissioner request email],

As discussed over email, I withdraw this FOI request and look forward to
receiving the information I have requested administratively.

Yours sincerely,

Justin Warren

-----Original Message-----

Dear Justin,

We are writing in relation to your correspondence of 24 February 2021.

We confirm that we are happy to handle your request as an administrative

access request, rather than pursuant to the formal process outlined under

the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act). Relevantly, section

3A(2) of the FOI Act specifically states that the Act does not limit an

agency’s power to give access to information under other legislative or

administrative arrangements.

Given this is not a formal freedom of information request, please provide

a direct email address that we can use to correspond with you about your

administrative access request.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

FOI Coordinator

eSafety enquiries

The eSafety Commissioner

[1]Email-Footers icons3   [2]esafety.gov.au

[3]Email-Footers iconsT    [4]Email-Footers iconsF    [5]Email-Footers

iconsL

eSafety acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout

Australia and their continuing connection to land, water, culture and

community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

_____________________________________________________________________________

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[11][FOI #7106 email]

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet.
More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:

[12]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended
recipient(s)
and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized
review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the
intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy
all
copies of the original message.

References

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8. mailto:[FOI #7106 email]
9. mailto:[Children’s eSafety Commissioner request email]
10. mailto:[Children’s eSafety Commissioner request email]
11. mailto:[FOI #7106 email]
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