Short statured people say their photos are increasingly being taken without consent and then posted on social media groups dedicated to mocking them. The groups contain violent, derogatory and sexualised content and getting them removed is difficult. The short statured community wants more action taken and is calling for the wider public to help them call out the abuse.
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TVTranscript
00:00 This was actually sent to me.
00:03 Samantha Lilly is no stranger to abuse.
00:06 But recently social media groups mocking her and others of short stature caught the 35
00:11 year old off guard.
00:12 I've seen three different photos of me in the last week or so.
00:18 Just going about my day.
00:19 Seeing that first image made me feel completely powerless and completely subhuman.
00:24 Advocates have reported an influx of groups online devoted to mocking the community.
00:29 People with children, people with high profile employment just having these conversations
00:34 in the open.
00:35 It's become a bit of a sport.
00:37 The pages include taglines such as 'see something small, give us a call'.
00:41 Some posts contained photos of children, others were demeaning and involved threatening messages.
00:47 But getting them taken down has been difficult.
00:50 Meta replied that no, no, no it doesn't violate any community standards.
00:54 And the e-safety commissioner has basically wiped the hands of it saying no, it's out
00:59 of our control.
01:00 Meta didn't respond to questions from the ABC.
01:04 And a spokesperson for the e-safety commissioner said it can only flag content for removal
01:09 in certain circumstances.
01:11 Calling out the abuse of people with disability often falls to people with disability.
01:15 Many in the short stature community are tired of doing the heavy lifting and want the wider
01:19 public to step up and help shoulder some of that load.
01:22 I think as simple as just kind of making somebody aware that hey, that's a real person and
01:27 just having that conversation.
01:29 A conversation long overdue.
01:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]