Extremely harmful and illegal content online: What are young people seeing and what does it mean for parents?

This resource has been peer reviewed by Youthline NZ and clinical psychologist Dougal Sutherland from Umbrella Wellbeing.

Here at the Classification Office, it's our job to protect New Zealanders from harmful content. To help us do our job well, we talk with young people about their experiences online. In our latest report, Content that Crosses the Line: Conversations with young people about extremely harmful content online, we spoke with rangatahi to better understand their experiences navigating extremely harmful content; the real yucky stuff. This is the kind of content that crosses the legal line, and we can ban because of the harm it can cause. This resource includes insights from young people and what it means for adults supporting them.

Before going any further, it's important to acknowledge that this is really tough, for both young people experiencing it and the parents trying to support them. After reading about the kind of content young people might come across online, the instinct might be to grab their phone and lock it away. But before reacting, take a moment to read through everything. While this content is available online, it doesn’t necessarily mean your child has come across it, or that, if they have, it has affected them in the way you might assume. Every young person will respond differently, and what matters most is staying calm, keeping communication open, and approaching the conversation with curiosity rather than fear. The way parents respond can make a big difference, not just for their child’s wellbeing but also for their relationship with them

So, what is illegal content?

Illegal content is the really serious stuff that can harm the viewer or those around them. This could include material that encourages or promotes violence, such as terrorist material or animal cruelty, shows the sexual abuse of children, or live streams real-life suicide. We all have different lines and are impacted by content differently but when it comes to extremely harmful content most New Zealanders would agree with the strict legal standards that apply. At the Classification Office, our job is to balance protecting people from harm with respecting the right to freedom of expression, so the bar for banning content is set very high.

What are young people seeing?

Rangatahi talked about seeing the following extremely harmful or illegal content:

• Real world violence (for example, beheadings, executions and animal cruelty)
• Real world suicide depictions (for example, live stream videos)
• Physical or sexual violence against people.
• Promotion of criminal and terrorist activities
• Advice on harmful behaviour (for example, promotes problematic eating habits or self-harm.

Why do young people see harmful content online?

“You’re being drawn towards things that you don’t normally see or things that are quite serious, and you’re quite curious.”

Hearing that young people are seeing this content often leads to questions: how and why are they seeing it? Are they seeking it out? Are they sharing it? Who is showing it to them?

The truth is, there are many reasons our rangatahi might come across harmful content, and many of these reasons do not include intentionally seeking it out.

Some of the reasons young people mentioned include:

• Being shown content by someone else – this could happen on the bus, in the classroom, at a sleepover or in other public spaces.
• Receiving content through messaging group chats - on platforms like WhatsApp or Discord, often from a stranger or a peer. These chats groups are usually large, and young people join them because of shared interests, rather than knowing the other members personally.
• Content appearing in their social media feeds - this often happens because of algorithms, and we’ll dive deeper into this later.
• Seeking it out - some young people hear about content from their peers or events happening in the world and become curious, leading them to search for it. Exploring new things and pushing boundaries is a normal part of growing up, and rangatahi are likely to do this online too. Some may choose to share this content with others. It’s important to remember that curiosity isn’t a bad thing, and it’s not their fault that this harmful content is available for them to find.

What young people have told us matches what research shows. Most of the time, they come across harmful content by accident, not on purpose.

Further Reading

Content that crosses the line – Consultation Report

Banned or illegal content: What is objectionable content?

Classification Office resources for Parents and Whānau (hub)

Talking with young people about what they’re watching (resource guide)

How to talk with young people about pornography (resource guide)