Sydney mum Danielle Asita confronts online troll as influencers fight back against cyberbullying

The days of hiding behind a fake profile picture and firing off cruel comments without consequence may be coming to an end, as a growing number of Australian influencers and content creators publicly push back against online trolls.

Sydney mum-of-three Danielle Asita is the latest creator to strike a nerve online after confronting a man who had repeatedly targeted her with hateful comments on social media, only for him to quickly hang up when she called him directly.

Ms Asita, 33, recently launched her parenting-focused social media account “overstimulated.mum”, building an audience of more than 24,000 followers within months through relatable videos about motherhood and family life.

But alongside the rapid growth came a flood of abuse.

“I can’t believe how quickly the hate comments came,” Ms Asita said, according to News.com.au.

“I think it was a couple of weeks after I first posted, I’m sure someone wrote ‘go kill yourself,’ … these people just don’t care.”

While much of the negativity blurred into the background, one particular commenter continued repeatedly attacking her appearance and personality, branding her a “whinging Karen”, “desperate”, and “yuck”.

Eventually, Ms Asita decided she had had enough.

Rather than block the man or ignore the comments, she tracked down his phone number, which she said was publicly linked to the business account he had allegedly been using to leave the messages, and called him directly.

“I was just calling to just have a chat with just to see what your problem was with me on my Instagram. You seem to be commenting quite a bit of hate,” she said in a video later posted online.

The man responded, “Oh no. Not a bit of hate. Just joining in.”

But when Ms Asita explained how she had obtained his number, the conversation abruptly ended.

“He quickly hung up,” she said.

“I’m surprised he hung up if he can put his business to the negative comments.

“I don’t know how he hadn’t thought of that before... he just didn’t care because he thought there would be no repercussions to the negative comments.”

The video of the confrontation quickly gained traction online, with many social media users praising the creator for publicly challenging what they described as “keyboard warrior” behaviour.

“Love this! We need to call out keyboard warriors more often!” one person commented.

Another wrote: “I’m here for this. Well done!”

The incident reflects a growing shift online, with creators increasingly refusing to quietly absorb abuse as trolling and cyberbullying become more aggressive across platforms.

Last year, Australian influencer Indy Clinton made headlines after revealing she had hired a private investigator to identify people allegedly behind relentless online harassment campaigns targeting her and her family.

For Ms Asita, the issue extends far beyond hurt feelings or negative comments.

“People need to be held accountable. You hear stories all the time, horrible stories, of people doing things because they’ve been bullied online,” she said.

“I feel really sorry for other people that this would really, really get to.”

As online creators continue building audiences and attracting criticism alongside it, more influencers appear willing to test whether the internet’s anonymous culture can survive real-world accountability.