Design and Policy Recommendations for Social Media Safety of Women and Gender-Diverse People in Australia

Social media platforms are central to how Australians communicate, work, participate in public life, and maintain relationships. However, women and gender-diverse people disproportionately experience technology-facilitated abuse on these platforms, including harassment, impersonation, non-consensual image sharing and identity-based abuse on social media.

The report investigates how women and gender-diverse users experience social media safety features and technology-facilitated abuse. It aims to improve platform safety design, reporting systems, and policy responses to online harm.

Through a series of workshops with women and gender-diverse social media users, alongside consultations with experts in platform safety, digital policy, moderation and technology design, this research reveals how existing social media safety features often fail to meet users’ real-world needs and how they could be better.

The report makes six key recommendations for social platform companies and policy makers.  Recommendations include:

• Make Reporting Transparent, Trackable and Severity-Based

• Embed Friction, Consent, and Evidence-Preserving Controls into Content Sharing

• Strengthen Account Authenticity and Accountability Mechanisms

• Strengthen Context-Sensitive Flagging and Detection Mechanisms

• Improve Detection and Accountability for Repeat and Patterned Abuse

• Strengthen Safety Awareness Through Contextual and Responsible Guidance

Read the report