Collaboration and media literacy needed for better online safety

By Taara Malhi, Youth Press Gallery, Youth Parliament 2025

Photo caption: Aarthi Candadai Youth MP and Hon Nicola Willis

Aarthi Candadai is a young superwoman who can do it all, from podcasting to organising Tedx and other community events. Candadai is especially passionate about Youth Development and Online Safety. She emphasises the importance of collaboration and shared responsibility in the best interests of young people, regarding online safety, as well as day-to-day life.

“The digital world can be a really empowering space, but it can also be an incredibly dangerous and also harmful space,” Candadai says. Rates of screen use for New Zealand young people are amongst the highest in the world, with young people spending an average of 42 hours online per week in 2018 (including both home and school use)¹.

Social media creates a space for authentic and stigma-free interactions, where everyone is free to explore their identity. It can be used as a safe space where young people can seek mental health support.

However, unregulated, online spaces can cause harm to users, including; exposure to harmful or distressing content, compromised privacy and safety, exposure to harmful and addictive commodities, cyberbullying, body image issues, loneliness, sleep deprivation, and negative impacts on Haoura (health and wellbeing, encompassing physical, mental, social, and spiritual aspects).²

Candadai believes online safety can’t fall on the shoulders of one group. “It’s definitely a shared responsibility. Number one, it’s up to tech companies, who need to put harm reduction ahead of engagement. They need to focus on how they can prevent young people from experiencing online harm. The government needs to allocate resources and keep up with technology, they need to actually engage with young people,” she says.

”A stronger emphasis on media literacy is needed, not just for young people but throughout the community. We need to give our people the necessary skill sets so they can navigate the digital world realm safely. We need to empower them with education rather than taking away their resources.”

Candadai says that she, and other young people feel that bills focus on the banning of phones in schools and now social media for under-16s, showing how the voices of young people are far too often being drowned out.

“These decisions and proposals make it seem like they’ve never even spoken to a young person before.” Young people know what they want. “We [young people] are experts in our own lives and experiences.”

Young people are what inspire Candadai everyday. The great things that youth are able to do when given opportunities and resources is what motivates her to work hard to uplift her peers.

“Young people must be consulted for issues that impact their lives, that young people are not as careless as they are thought out to be, and that young people are the driving force for change,” she says. Young people are sidelined when decisions are being made, decisions that impact them, their lives, their futures.

Youth are the future of our country, and we should work with them, empower them with the tools to succeed in their lives. When youth come together on issues that they are truly passionate about, no one can stop them and they will change the world.

^{1 OECD (2021), 21st-Century Readers: Developing Literacy Skills in a Digital World, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/a83d84cb-en.}

^{2 Wu Y, Kemps E, Prichard I. Digging into digital buffets: A systematic review of eating-related social media content and its relationship with body image and eating behaviours. Body Image 2024;48:101650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.101650; Ge MW, Hu FH, Jia YJ, Tang W, Zhang WQ, Zhao DY, Shen WQ, Chen HL. The Relationship Between Loneliness and Internet or Smartphone Addiction Among Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Psychol Rep. 2025 Jun;128(3):1429-1451. doi: 10.1177/00332941231180119. Epub 2023 Jun 1. PMID: 37261719; Brautsch LA, Lund L, Andersen MM, Jennum PJ, Folker AP, Andersen S. Digital media use and sleep in late adolescence.}