Slave to the algorithm: big tech in violence spotlight

Australians should be permitted to opt-in to social media algorithms instead of relying on opt-out options, according to a consent advocate. This recommendation emerged from a summit held in Sydney to tackle violence against women and girls, including alleged sexual violence and youth misogyny. Federal Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek and NSW Education Minister Prue Car convened a roundtable meeting, alongside experts and politicians, to discuss the growing influence of social media algorithms on young people's behavior and attitudes.

The Women's Safety Commissioner, Hannah Tonkin, emphasized the urgent need for action, stating that algorithms were promoting harmful attitudes towards gender, relationships, and consent. The federal government is examining legislation models from other jurisdictions to address this issue. Opt-out options, already implemented in the European Union, might not be sufficient, as they allow tech companies to control users' experiences until they manually switch settings.

Consent advocate Chanel Contos proposed an opt-in model, where users have the default setting as a following-driven feed, with the option to switch to a recommendation-driven feed. This approach would give users full control over their content consumption. Research from Teach Us Consent revealed that boys aged 16-18 could be exposed to misogynistic content within 25 minutes of signing up to social media, even with preferences set to exclude such content.

The roundtable discussion aimed to develop a NSW Sexual Violence Plan, expected to be released in 2027, focusing on expanding consent education in schools, enhancing support for victims of sexual violence, and helping parents discuss healthy relationships with their children.