New research: Online experiences of adults with intellectual disability

Research by Australia’s eSafety Commissioner explores how people with intellectual disability use the internet, and how they experience and deal with online abuse. 

The research - How bad should it be before I tell someone?: Online Abuse Experiences of Adult Australians with Intellectual Disability - was commissioned by eSafety to better understand the online experiences of people with intellectual disability and to identify how to support them to have safe, empowering experiences online. 

Key findings include:

• Experiences of online abuse are widespread among people with intellectual disability that participated in the research. Abusive behaviour includes online bullying, trolling, doxing and sexual extortion.
• Many adults with intellectual disability don’t recognise online abuse while it is happening.
• Online interactions may be riskier for people with intellectual disability because of their reduced impulse control and varied ability to understand and assess online communication, including the tone of written messages.
• Resources for people with intellectual disability, their carers and service providers need to be in Easy Read format and include real-life online safety examples. They should also present information using both audio-visual formats to encourage better engagement.

The report is based on in-depth interviews and focus groups conducted with adults with intellectual disability, carers and service providers between September and December 2021.

The findings from this research will inform eSafety’s online safety programs, including future interventions to assist people with intellectual disability, their carers and service providers to better identify and look for help for online harms.

We encourage you to read the full research report, our blog post and share this information with your contacts.