Australia could implement opt-in, opt out algorithms and follow UK pornography ban

The federal government is looking at opt-in or opt-out algorithm features for users on social media, Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek says, amid fears of its impact on the prevalence of sexual violence among teenagers.

Ms Plibersek told ABC Insiders on Sunday there was “more to do” to tackle the “huge role” of social media platforms in the rise of sexual violence in young people, especially the practice commonly referred to as choking.

She also supported Australia looking at banning depictions of strangulation in pornography, in line with UK legislation passed last year which criminalised publishing or possessing pornography showing strangulation or suffocation.

It comes days after NSW Police said it was investigating the death of a 16-year-old girl on Sydney’s Northern Beaches after a suspected sexual strangulation act. No arrests have been made.

“If you set up a social media account as a young boy in Australia today, it takes an average of 23 minutes for you to be fed misogynistic, violent misogynistic content online,” Ms Plibersek said on Sunday.

“That is a deliberate decision of the social media companies that is wrecking our young boys, giving them all of the wrong ideas about what healthy relationships look like.”

Ms Plibersek said the government was working with not-for-profit Teach Us Consent, founded by Australian activist Chanel Contos, which has lobbied for algorithms to be opt-in only on social media.

“We’re absolutely up for work on algorithms, you know, opting in to those recommender algorithms that are causing so much harm, opting in or opting out,” Ms Plibersek said

But she warned any prospective plan would have to factor in the behaviour of social media companies which she said would likely put up a fight.

“What we’ve seen from the big tech companies in the past is they technically comply with what they’re required to do legally, but they make the app so unpleasant or unwieldy to use that people default back to the old version that has the recommender algorithms or the unhealthy, addictive qualities of the original app,” she said. “So we need to be super careful of the way that social media companies behave.”

Ms Plibersek also said the government should “very seriously look” at implementing a UK-style ban on depictions of strangulation or suffocation.

“There is something wrong with a situation where 60 per cent of young people say they’ve experienced strangulation during sexual encounters,” Ms Plibersek said. “There is no safe way to strangle someone. We’ve seen the tragic reported incident recently here in Sydney.

“It is absolutely heartbreaking to hear of that case recently. But death is the most extreme thing that can happen.

“But we know that there’s brain damage, potential long term brain damage, including aneurisms, that can happen weeks after a strangulation event.”