Could this be the end of anonymous trolling? Australian content creators draw a line in the sand after years of online abuse

The internet may be about to experience a seismic shift.

Influencer Indy Clinton, who has a combined 2.5 million followers on social media, recently announced she hired a private investigator to unmask people who "troll, defame and cyberbully" her.

Clinton proudly produced a 64-page dossier and said she was waiting patiently – and was willing to spend a lot of money – to hold them accountable.

And anonymous trolls ought to be on guard, content creator Olivia White told 9news.com.au.

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White, who has 178,000 followers on Instagram, said she fought her own legal battle against anonymous internet users and applauds Clinton for her grit.

While she certainly doesn't have the funds to hire a private investigator, White said she is eagerly waiting to see those with deeper pockets follow in Clinton's footsteps.

"I've had to engage lawyers, I have engaged with a cyber forensics expert, but it's really, really expensive," White, 36, explained.

"But I think it's awesome for Indy... it's like – someone has finally done it."

In 2023, White took action to unmask one of her own online bullies after reading cruel and untrue information about herself in a public forum.

She admitted to usually ignoring mean messages and comments, but this time, it had spilled out into her real life.

"I was able to identify one of the people that was on there, because it crossed over into stalking and harassment," White said.

"It crossed over into a dangerous area, I had to take action both criminally and civilly, and that included taking out personal safety international orders."

Criminal defence lawyer and director and founder of Gallant Law Lauren Cassimatis has represented several Australian influencers who have secured criminal prosecutions in similar cases.

Nobody is ever truly anonymous on the internet, Cassimatis warned, and she expects more and more bad online behaviour will result in convictions.

"You're not protected anymore, You can't hide behind a fake handle or an image. You can be traced," Cassimatis said.

"I also think the police will now see that this is something that needs to be taken seriously."

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In White's case, cruel content being shared online about her was starting to impact her career and income stream.

"It was an extremely triggering experience for me. I was not in a good place mentally," she said.

White was able to find out who one anonymous user was by combing through digital breadcrumbs.

She then spent a lot of money, time and effort to deter this person from ever talking about her online again.

"How most of these people are actually uncovered, and I don't think they realise, is just from their own human error," she said.

"It might be uploading a picture, a screenshot, but it's still got metadata attached.

"Or they're active across multiple threads and they give up enough information across a whole period of time that begins to make them really identifiable."

Her troll's final mistake was contacting a small brand she was working with, which then passed on their information to White.

She then served the person a defamation concerns notice, which expires after 12 months.

"It did scare them off, that person in particular, but things always sort of pop up every now and again," White said.

White said she knows countless influencers and online personalities who may be emboldened to now take similar action.

Many of them are women and mothers, just like her, who have finally had enough.

"A lot of time we don't talk about it because one, there is just unfortunately a conversation towards creators, influencers, [saying] it's not a real job, or, it's not a respected job," she said.

"I've talked to people who got details from Indy, big creators who said they are going to something similar.

"People who have the means, it's only going to snowball."

Do you have a story? Contact reporter April Glover at april.glover@nine.com.au

Cassimatis said she also hopes Clinton pursuing legal action might result in a sentiment shift both socially and within law enforcement.

"Now that a lot of influencers know their rights, they're aware now that a crime has been committed against them and they've got a right to go to the police," she said.

"I've had clients that have been stalked online or in reality and the police have just said, 'this is probably more of a civil dispute or defamation, I can't help'. 

"But I think through this movement there will be some education for police, influencers and likely offenders just to really know what everyone's options are."

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