Australia’s eSafety Commissioner calls on Aussies to make the internet a safer, more positive place in new campaign via Circul8

Tuesday 11 February 2025 is Safer Internet Day, is a global day of action bringing communities, schools, organisations and families from more than 180 countries together to raise awareness of online safety issues and work towards a safer internet.

The eSafety Commissioner leads the day in Australia and the campaign calls on all Australians to ‘help make the Internet a safer, more positive place’. Whether you’re working, learning, playing or scrolling – the internet is a huge part of life. It opens a world of opportunities, but also comes with risks, especially for young people and other at-risk groups.

The statistics behind the risks that tell us why online safety is so important were the inspiration for the campaign creative.

The campaign idea: ‘The Unhappy Statistics’.

With the insight that much digital behaviour is invisible as it is experienced primarily individually, Circul8’s strategy was to shed light on how close we may be to risk without knowing it.

Using research provided by the eSafety Commissioner the creative uses the emotional language of the internet to create dramatic animated emoji pie-charts that reveal the statistical extent of the risks we face such as:

• 70% of Australian adults have had at least one negative online experience
• 32% of gamers aged 8-17 have been bullied while playing games online
• 31% of LGBTIQ+ teens have experienced hate speech online

The resolve is to ‘make the internet a safer, more positive place’ by getting involved with Safer Internet Day.

A campaign close to the agency’s heart, Alana Stocks, MD and founder of Circul8 says: “As an agency that was a pioneer of social and digital marketing over 17 years ago, this campaign is very close to our heart. We have always believed in the power of the internet to be a positive force. But that also means taking on the downsides to ensure everyone is safe and able to benefit. So we are proud to be helping promote Safer Internet Day and to be doing it in a way that feels so creatively right for the digital world.”

Says Tim Whiddon, executive manager, strategic communications, eSafety: “While the internet opens up amazing opportunities to learn, work, and play, these benefits are often overshadowed by experiences of harm and abuse. Safer Internet Day is an opportunity to raise awareness about the range of harms occurring online and, crucially, remind everyone that help, support and advice are available. This year’s campaign helps drive home why we need to make the internet a safer, more positive place with emotionally engaging creative that is relevant to eSafety’s audiences.”

The campaign runs across five lead animations in owned and paid social channels with a full campaign kit to support. The campaign media runs until 11th February with media through UM.

Client: eSafety Commissioner
Agency Credits: Circul8
Media agency: UM