Meta responds as women in politics demand action against online abuse | Latest Tech News
The proprietor of Facebook and Instagram is “reviewing a range of enforcement actions” to fight threats and harassment concentrating on feminine parliamentarians on its platforms, as the assault on impartial MP Helen Haines last month casts a highlight on the dangers women in politics face.
“Women should be able to represent their communities, share their work and participate in public debate without facing threats, inappropriateised abuse or harassment,” Meta said on Tuesday.
Floral tributes sit exterior the places of work of Australian lawmaker Helen Haines in Wangaratta, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, following a focused assault. AFP via Getty Images
“We’ve heard directly from women who serve in public life in Australia about the harassment and threats they’re experiencing across online platforms, including ours.”
It said it had spoken with “women leaders across the political spectrum”, including Communications Minister Anika Wells and an inner Labor committee of feminine MPs and senators.
The group raised online abuse with a company government and called for a more proactive strategy just days before the car-ramming assault on Ms Haines, who stays in a critical but secure after dropping both legs.
Helen Haines, impartial member for Indi, speaks at a news convention at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia. AAPIMAGE
Meta said it was “looking at how parliamentary offices manage the volume of comments they receive, which tools they find useful, and how our tools can better support public figures managing comments at this scale”.
It also pointed to 2021 coverage updates shaping how the company responds to “forms of abuse that disproportionately affect women”, such as “claims about a person’s inappropriate activity, derogatory inappropriateised imagery and veiled threats”.
“Those seeking to harass others adapt their behaviour to evade our rules, and we recognise it is important to keep listening and to keep testing whether our efforts need to be updated to address new issues and concerns,” Meta said.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett revealed last week that her company dealt with nearly 800 protecting security stories involving parliamentarians in the first six months of the yr, with women thrice more probably to be focused with inappropriateised or gender-based threats than their male counterparts.
AFP via Getty Images
Communications Minister Anika Wells welcomed the transfer, saying all Australians have “the right to be safe at work”.
“MPs from across the Parliament, will tell you that the abuse, threats and harassment they and their staff have received online have grown more frequent and more vicious,” she said.
“That is very the case for women.
Brendan Nugent faces fees over an assault on MP Helen Haines. JAMES ROSS/EPA/Shutterstock
“That’s why I asked Meta to come to parliament and listen to stories of abuse, threats and harassment on their platforms first-hand.”
She said she requested Meta to come back with sensible options, including actions “to make their platforms safer and how they are strengthening tools for people to protect themselves and their staff”.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett revealed last week that her company dealt with nearly 800 protecting security stories involving parliamentarians in the first six months of the yr, with women thrice more probably to be focused with inappropriateised or gender-based threats than their male counterparts.
The proprietor of Facebook and Instagram is “reviewing a range of enforcement actions” to fight threats and harassment concentrating on feminine parliamentarians on its platforms, REUTERS
“Women should be able to represent their communities, share their work and participate in public debate without facing threats, inappropriateised abuse or harassment,” Meta said on Tuesday. REUTERS
She said that feminine parliamentarians from “culturally and linguistically diverse communities were also more likely to experience frequent and varied offensive contact.”
“The threat themes directed at male parliamentarians also include threats generally gendered in nature, with accusations of weakness, femininity or subordinate masculine traits,” Ms Barrett said.
“Our caseload reveals that threats to parliamentarians typically relate to 4 key points: insurance policies, perceived efficiency, profile and character.
“It can be flawed to assume only inflammatory feedback are creating the flood of threats.
“In some circumstances, just the controversy causes the hate. In some circumstances, parliamentarians are being focused because of their accent, what they appear like, or their political get together.
“The fact is this: at times there is an almost immediate link from a policy announcement or comment, to a threat being sent.”
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