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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Douglas Smith and Sarah Collard

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

Social media applications are seen on an iPhone being held in front of a moody dark background
A parliamentary inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Indigenous Australians received more than 420 submissions, many of which describe an increasingly toxic online environment. Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images

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.

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