The US Government's plan to broadcast a firing squad execution is reckless and puts children at risk of serious psychological harm, highlighting the need for a strong and enforceable Digital Duty of Care.
The Alannah & Madeline Foundation, which has supported children affected by violence and trauma for almost 30 years, condemned the live streaming decision and warned that Australian children would almost certainly encounter clips of this horrific violence on social media, video sharing and messaging platforms, without warning and without any choice.
Alannah & Madeline Foundation CEO Sarah Davies AM said deliberately broadcasting a killing showed a complete disregard for the children who would inevitably see it.
"Through decades of working alongside children who have experienced violence, we know that witnessing it, even through a screen, can be deeply traumatic," Ms Davies said.
"Children who see graphic footage of a person being killed can experience fear, intrusive images, nightmares, anxiety, and a lasting sense that the world is unsafe. For children who have already lived through violence or loss, it can heighten their levels of anxiety, depression and withdrawal, and reopen wounds they have worked hard to heal. Witnessing or re-witnessing real-world violence can desensitise children to aggression and risk normalising violence as a response to conflict.
"Children rarely go looking for this kind of material. It reaches them through autoplay, through algorithmic feeds and through group chats where a clip is passed around for shock value. The burden should not rest solely on children, parents, and schools to manage the risks of harmful content once it is circulating."
Children have told the Foundation that violent content is already a regular part of their online lives. In consultations with more than 800 children and young people, they described feeds serving increasingly extreme material and reporting tools that appear to do little.
As Federal Parliament considers the Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026 this week, Ms Davies said the planned livestream was a clear example of why the legislation must be strong. In its proposed form, the duty would require online services, as far as reasonably practicable, to protect children from harmful material and from harms associated with the design of their services.
"This is exactly the kind of foreseeable harm which the Digital Duty of Care seeks to prevent," Ms Davies said.
"Platforms have the tools to stop this footage being recommended to children, autoplayed in their feeds or spread through their messages, and they should be using them now - not after the event has already happened.
"Right now, whether they take action is largely up to them. A strong, enforceable Digital Duty of Care would make protecting children a legal obligation, backed by a regulator with the resources and powers to impose meaningful penalties when companies fail.
"Children deserve digital environments that are safe by design, with protections that reduce the likelihood of being exposed to harmful and traumatic content. Parliamentarians have the opportunity and the responsibility to act on this now."
The Foundation is urging parliamentarians to ensure the Bill delivers the strongest possible protections for children and that it covers, messaging, gaming, search, app stores and AI-powered services alongside social media, so that harmful content cannot simply move to platforms with weaker protections.
About us:
The Alannah & Madeline Foundation was founded 29 years ago by Walter Mikac AM, and a small group of volunteers in memory of Walter's young daughters Alannah and Madeline, aged just six and three, who tragically lost their lives along with their mother and 32 others at Port Arthur in Tasmania on 28 April 1996. The Foundation was established with the belief that "all children and young people should be able to live a happy and safe life, free from violence and trauma." Our mission continues today through our Care, Prevention and Advocacy programs - we fight for their right to be safe, so their future is strong. www.alannahandmadeline.org.au
