Online racism is significantly affecting mental health, First Nations people say: ‘It’s like carrying a bully in your pocket’

Australian Human Rights Commission has called for a digital duty of care to prevent social media algorithms from incentivising ‘racist’ content

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For the past week and half, the social media feeds of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been flooded with clips from the same video, posted by a self-declared Australian comedian.

This video shows a white woman wearing a fur coat with white dot painting on her face. She refers to herself as “Aunty Lisa”, and claims that she is Aboriginal, after ticking yes on an Aboriginal identity form. At the end of the video, she says, “I am Aboriginal, end of story”, before sniffing a red jerry can, in an apparent reference to petrol sniffing, a serious issue affecting some Indigenous communities.