Verian's 2026 study of 1,251 Australians found that 85% had been exposed to an online harm in the past three months. Scams, trolling, hate speech and deepfakes are now a routine part of the digital experience for roughly half the population. Exposure is one thing; what people do next is another, and it is here that clear points of vulnerability emerge, with direct implications for policymakers and platform providers.
Using a high-fidelity simulated social media feed embedded in a survey of 1,251 Australians, we moved beyond self-reported intention to observe actual behaviour, what people liked, shared, hid and reported when confronted with harmful content.
Most Australians engage positively with only a handful of harmful posts, but a minority, "super-sharers", engage heavily, and exist in every age group. Positive engagement rises modestly with age, from an average of 2.6 posts among 16–24-year-olds to 3.4 among 66–75-year-olds. Protective behaviour follows a different pattern, peaking in the 56–65 age group and lowest among the youngest adults, who are less likely to interact with harmful content but also less likely to report it. One measurable trait consistently predicts resilience: cognitive reflection, the ability to override an intuitive but wrong response. Because this can be trained, it offers a concrete lever for intervention.
Two points of vulnerability stand out. One quarter of participants liked or loved an explicitly Islamophobic post, suggesting race and religion remain social fault lines open to exploitation. And while 86% of Australians are aware of at least one form of technology-facilitated abuse, 79% would not be confident where to seek help if affected, a gap in help-seeking confidence, not awareness, that leaves people exposed at the moment they most need support.
Governments have already taken steps to address online harms, from social media access restrictions to legislative reforms criminalising the distribution of deepfakes during elections, alongside public-education campaigns. Our findings show strong public appetite for further action: over 70% of Australians support measures including platform fines, bans on nudify apps and criminalising the creation of non-consensual imagery. As the eSafety Commissioner has noted, we cannot fence off the digital environment, but we can build the skills and safeguards that help people stay safer within it. This study establishes a baseline, and a replicable method, for measuring susceptibility and evaluating the interventions designed to reduce it.
What percentage of Australians have experienced online harm? 85% of Australians reported exposure to at least one online harm, such as scams, trolling, hate speech or deepfakes, in the past three months, according to Verian's 2026 research.
Who is most likely to engage with harmful content online? Positive engagement with harmful content rises modestly with age, while a minority of "super-sharers" in every age group account for a disproportionate share of engagement. Lower cognitive reflection is associated with higher harmful engagement and lower protective action.
What is technology-facilitated abuse? Technology-facilitated abuse refers to harms enabled by digital tools, including deepfakes, sextortion, nudify apps and non-consensual intimate imagery. Verian found 86% of Australians are aware of at least one form, but 79% would not know where to seek help if affected.
Do Australians support regulation of online harms? Yes. Verian's research found that over 70% of Australians support regulatory measures including platform fines, bans on nudify apps, and criminalising the creation of non-consensual imagery.