Addressing online violence in our democracies - promoting equality in Commonwealth Parliaments.
A toxic online environment is a threat to all Commonwealth democracies. It threatens our values and undermines our people's freedom and choices.
Workplace violence in any context is unacceptable, including that faced by journalists and media who are crucial to protecting freedom and democracy. We also condemn rising violence and aggression towards all frontline workers, including health and retail workers.
There are more than 6000 women parliamentarians across 180 State and Federal Parliaments in Commonwealth countries.
We know that in Australia and the UK women parliamentarians are three times more likely to report receiving sexualised or gender-based threats, online and in person, than men in parliament.
And in the UK and Australia, elected representatives have been killed or injured for doing their jobs, out in their communities.
Similar horrific stories exist across the Commonwealth and disproportionately feature women parliamentarians as the targets.
This erodes our democracies. Talented and principled people choose not to stand for election because of the hate they see their elected representatives and their families face.
Addressing these harms requires collective action. Governments, technology companies, and other stakeholders must all play their part in creating safer online spaces that protect individuals and communities, support respectful public debate and enable safe participation in public life.
At the UN General Assembly, our governments committed to working together to make the online environment safer and give people back their choice. The choice of what they see in their feeds, and the protections to ensure children are not exposed to harmful content online. Australia and the UK have also committed, through our bilateral Memorandums of Understanding to Collaborate on Ending Gender-based Violence and on Online Safety and Security, to deepen cooperation on shared online safety challenges, including technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
We commit to working together with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, with the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians, and with countries from across the Commonwealth to bring together technology, expertise and practical solutions to help protect parliamentarians from online abuse and support democratic participation across the Commonwealth. We'll hold the first forum in 2027 and will engage all those in the Commonwealth who share these values.
There are a range of software tools that are being trialled in our Parliaments and around the world, and we welcome and encourage this innovation.
While we work to change attitudes, restore respectful debate and return people's choice, in the short term we can commit to take steps together to protect our democracies.
