Today is Safer Internet Day and Microsoft has released its annual Global Online Safety Survey which revealed 62 per cent of all Australians have experienced an online risk in the last 12 months.
2026 is the 10th year Microsoft has released the report which is the result of a global survey of teens and adults about their online experiences.
The top online risks found were hate speech (31 per cent), online fraud and scams (30 per cent) and cyberbullying (30 per cent).
Ohe key finding among teenagers was the fact that 72 per cent talked to someone after experiencing a risk – that figure is 80 per cent among Australian teens.
Overall 62 per cent of all respondents had experienced at least one significant online risk.
Online fraud and scams was the top worry across all age groups including 50 per cent of Gen X and Baby Boomers.
But 44 per cent of teens still say cyberbullying is their No 1 concern.
Generative AI is used by 32 per cent of Australians each week – up from 11 per cent in 2023 – with millennials and teens having the highest adoption.
But 92 per cent expressed concern about AI and it being used for sexual/online abuse (78 per cent), scams (77 per cent) and AI hallucinations (71 per cent).
AI has become so realistic that only 23 per cent of Australians can easily distinguish real images from AI-generated images, according to Microsoft’s report.
The report also revealed that 80 per cent of teens who experienced an online risk talked to someone or reported it and 74 per cent took defensive actions like blocking or closing accounts.
