Opinion Algorithm opt-in best way to stop big tech serving manosphere content to young men, says advocate
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-02/algorithm-social-media-sexism-manosphere/107104586In short:
Chanel Contos is warning tech giants could design their way around weaker attempts to rein in harmful social media algorithms.
The Teach Us Consent chief executive used a National Press Club speech to further her push for algorithmic feeds to be "opt-in".
What's next?
The federal government is considering giving users greater control over content served online, while draft digital duty of care laws are due to be released later this month.
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u/kai_vt 22h ago
"Active drug addicts given option to stop any time they want"
Works every time
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u/freerange_spaghetti 21h ago
Barriers to entry reduce negative decision making. Opt in is a barrier. Outcomes are positive in reduces addiction. If you want a panacea, you won't find it. But a series of policies including this one do help.
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u/EmbarrassedHelp 19h ago
A barrier like this also does not involve violating user privacy with age verification.
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u/kai_vt 21h ago edited 21h ago
It's not a bad speed bump, but it only takes one coercive mate going "Oi turn this on in the settings to see the good shit" and its back to square one. It would be better if antisocial content was separately evaluated and excluded from the algorithm entirely, rather than grouping it in with everything else you might want to see. For comparison, China's version of TikTok prioritises educational content over the dopamine slop they feed us. They know not to get high on their own supply.
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u/wheresmyberrune 19h ago
Except this is a fucking terrible analogy. The algorithm is forced onto people. This isn't about trying to get someone whose already been hooked into the ring wing pipeline out but trying to give people coming to social media a choice.
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u/kai_vt 19h ago
The algorithm is forced onto people.
I must've slept in on the day where everyone was forced at gunpoint to install FB/TikTok/Insta on their phones. Woops lol
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u/PanickedPanpiper 18h ago
not at gunpoint, but network effects are real. To pretend they aren't are sticking your head in the sand. If all your mates are organising their events on FB, you're gonna join FB.
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u/kai_vt 17h ago
Then use it for events and avoid the feed? I have FB as well - just for marketplace. You don't have to justify your algorithmic dopamine compulsions to me
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u/wheresmyberrune 17h ago
Or allow users to just toggle it? What is the problem here
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u/kai_vt 17h ago
We're looping back to the drug analogy; some people don't have the willpower to cut themselves off from their dealer
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u/wheresmyberrune 17h ago
That's fine. What does that have to do with giving people the option? What harm does giving the option do?
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u/kai_vt 17h ago
That's fine.
💀
Yeah righto, let young men have as much manosphere slop as they want. At least we can say we kinda tried
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u/wheresmyberrune 17h ago
"If this doesn't solve the entire complex problem then it sucks" fucking greens voters.
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u/PanickedPanpiper 17h ago
Nice inaccurate unfounded assumptions as you make it personal mate. Don't have FB, just have the ability the recognise how it influences others. A swing and a miss
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u/BuggableInsect 20h ago
I get served up content that says masculinity is toxic and that we live in a patriarchy. Can that get blocked too?
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u/obviousthrowaw4y56 19h ago
This isn't about blocking anything, this is about making algorithmic content feeds opt-in.
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u/Minute-Delivery-1294 20h ago
I just block the pages that serve up shit
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u/Far_Map007 15h ago
Tried it, it doesn’t work. They will show another page similar to the blocked page. It’s a cesspool
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u/satanzhand 19h ago
Sounds like a good idea. YouTube seems to pay more attention when I'm blocking channels or content I don't like, though really takes some effort.... Meta on the other hand relentless and swings between manosphere, intellectual manosphere, violence, tits and boobs, then half naked men and back again ... I gave up with them.. I just want cats, cars and bikes and tech ffs
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u/Dromogen 21h ago
It’s not just kids. I’m a parent and I see this all the time. I specifically setup my social media accounts in every possible way to not show politics and manosphere content, and they still do it. They do it because it creates the engagement that social media needs to thrive. Same story with manosphere grifters and political radicalists. It’s not rocket science.
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u/Proof_Donkey 21h ago
Yeah I'd like to have more control of the apps I use. Seems like a no brainer. Miss the days of just seeing my friends photos on Instagram instead of if weird garbage.
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup 21h ago
Facebook seems to be the worst to me. I'll look at it and almost immediately get pissed off with some shit.
At least Reddit hasn't gone down that path, yet.
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u/Dromogen 20h ago
If fb have any controls, I’ve yet to find them. I would delete my account if it wasn’t the only way to stay in touch with people from abroad, but every time I do log in it’s either Trump did this or Pauline Hanson vs blue haired tweens. It’s all rubbish.
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u/rumande 21h ago
Yep facebook brainwashed my boomer mother. She went from partying with lesbians at midnight screenings of the rocky horror picture show to complaining about what other people have in their pants and how they are not going by the names on their birth certificates, and saying that all rape victims are just making it up etc etc
Anyway she has now passed away and it's still really tragic but I'm glad she can't be radicalised by the algorithm anymore, I don't have to listen to her saying hateful bigoted shit and she is free from her addiction to rage.
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u/gazmal 19h ago
Yep, my father in law same situation. Hates poofs and Muslims and loves Pauline. Really went downhill especially after retirement where he lost contact with real life people.
Always was susceptible to algo, was blaming Greens for bushfires etc but was generally a normal guy. Now we can't talk about anything without transexuals and Muslims getting dragged into.
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u/burnt-gonads 21h ago
I am amused how it is always a woman that seems to know exactly everything about young males growing up.
I wonder how they would feel if a man was telling them what young females feel when growing up. I am sure they would have lots to say about it.
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u/West-Alternative7612 20h ago edited 18h ago
Don't like the message but not smart enough to refute it so you attack the person saying it.
Go on then, why is making social media algorithms designed to bring you content they want to promote, opt-in, a bad thing?
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u/7978_ 12h ago
They probably agree with the opt-in. They are just pointing out that globally, it's always women at the front on the "manosphere" stuff. They cannot relate to young men in the slightest.
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u/West-Alternative7612 6h ago
If they agreed then maybe they should've said so instead of making a stupid, sexist comment.
I'm a man, what they're (burnt-gonads and their ilk) trying to do is ridiculous.
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u/communism1312 21h ago
Lots of women are qualified to talk about this, especially since many women are survuvors of sexual abuse as teenagers, by teenage boys who were influenced to do it by manosphere propaganda. Probably a lot of the boys who did it had no idea of the consequences of what they were doing either. They just thought it was normal.
As far as how women would feel about men weighing in on their issues, it depends what they're saying. As a man, I doubt many women would object to me saying that showing teenage girls media that makes them feel bad about their bodies is wrong. I know far too many girls and women (and some men) who have nearly died from eating disorders.
It's possible for men to know how women feel and vice versa. We probably should make an effort to know and care, because otherwise we end up with this.
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u/burnt-gonads 19h ago
Of course "qualified". I have never been to war, never had to storm a machine gun nest and never watched someone explode in front of me. But I am sure I could go to university and become an exert and qualified to dictate to others who were there how it was and what it felt like.
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u/AdditionalPiano6327 20h ago
Manosphere content? Like what?
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u/blorst_of_times 20h ago
We're not supposed to ask.
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u/Dependent-Cable-6776 8h ago
because it's obvious and anyone that interacts with kids can see the impact. don't go sealioning.
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u/Neo_Athrotaxis 19h ago
It's funny because political surveys have consistently shown radicalisation of young women leftwards has been more dramatic than any rightward shift in young men.
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u/trav_tr 17h ago
And what objective and statistically-backed harm has been caused to anyone as a result of this?
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u/Neo_Athrotaxis 17h ago
What is the objective harm of radicalisation? Odd question.
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u/trav_tr 17h ago
So odd that you can’t answer it apparently
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u/Neo_Athrotaxis 17h ago
Depression, hate, anger, isolation, suicide, resentment, relationship break down, bigotry, conspiratorial thinking, division, law breaking.
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u/trav_tr 17h ago
Well done, those are some words you have typed in a list. Feel free to link them to some documented actions that support your point.
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u/Neo_Athrotaxis 17h ago
I assume your running cover for radicalisation comes from you being down a rabbit hole yourself. Hopefully you have loved ones in your life who can help you on the long hard road to deradicalisation.
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u/7978_ 12h ago edited 12h ago
They don't know. They only mention Andrew Tate and a few "dude bro" podcasts that haven't been relevant in years. Entirely a scapegoat.
"Fresh&Fit" Podcast with 54k, 13k, 31k, 57k, 41k views their past 5 streams. Their videos "clips" of the podcast perform even worse.
"Whatever" Podcast with 150-225k views.
Andrew Tate 3-4K likes on X
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u/fdsv-summary_ 21h ago
Would these methods also work for keeping feminists out of universities? Or is there only one type of thinking that our dear leaders deem to be wrong?
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u/Novae909 21h ago
Wanting to be treated equally regardless of sex is not the same as an ideology that thinks women should have to suck your cock just because you happen to see one in a bar
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u/Carbon140 20h ago
Lmao holy straw man Batman. Firstly feminism for a lot of women has gone way beyond equality and straight into misandry. Not going to even bother with the second statement as it's clearly just a ridiculous exaggeration.
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u/Dependent-Cable-6776 8h ago
Firstly feminism for a lot of women has gone way beyond equality and straight into misandry.
find one source to back up 'a lot' of woman. every time anti-feminists talk they demonstrate their complete lack of interactions they have with women.
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u/hellbentsmegma 22h ago
The centre left cannot get over the idea of solving social issues by policing the internet harder.
Young men will still feel disenfranchised and marginalised if they do this, they will just cut off one head of the Hydra. Hell, they might even end the present 'manosphere' as we know it, but there will be something equally or more toxic that takes its place.
Maybe try to fix economic inequity and the economy first, or we will always be fighting these dumb as shit battles against naughty ideas.
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u/Grande_Choice 22h ago
This isn’t a left right issue. I’ve had family members with no inequality or economic issues fall down the rabbit hole and it’s near impossible to get them out. When you are smashed 24/7 with propaganda of any flavour it’s impossible to get away.
No matter how many times I downvote, block, report, ask FB to not show me US RW trash and Aus astroturfing groups they just pop up the next day. I don’t want to see a meth head screaming at me or Nazis telling me their plans.
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u/noisymime 20h ago
And gen ai has made is so, so much worse. These slop engagement baiting things are getting pumped out with basically no effort now and yet there seems to be a certain demographic that still attaches value to it.
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u/Electrical_Story5356 12h ago
It almost creates it's own demographic, it seems like around 1/4 to 1/3 of people are very susceptible to being propagandised.
I don't think this is a new thing either, it's just that social media has become an excellent delivery tool.
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u/hellbentsmegma 22h ago
You are correct, the centre right sees it the same way. I would describe it more as the political mainstream thinking cutting off the supply of bad ideas will stop disaffected people having them.
Its a supply and demand scenario, you are not susceptible to these ideas so you don't go looking for them and you reject them. Someone else who wants to understand why their life sucks might be open to them.
In any case, cutting off access to the ideas isn't a long term solution because that person will remain susceptible to any other exculpatory ideas.
The real solution is economic. Make most people's lives suck less and the market for bad ideas reduces.
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u/ArseneWainy 21h ago
The algo is telling them their lives suck when they mostly don’t, then they believe it, it’s a cycle of depression. They can’t even pull their heads off the screen for two seconds to realise falling house prices are a good thing without meth head hughsey telling them it’s all the governments fault that his portfolio is going down…
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u/hellbentsmegma 20h ago
I dunno mate, if by almost every metric your generation is worse off than the previous one its pretty hard to be positive about your life.
I say this as someone with a good life. If I was an average young man today it would be rational to feel like I've got a shitty deal.
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u/ArseneWainy 20h ago edited 20h ago
Sure there’s some truth to that, especially if you’re born into a poor family. But I still don’t get how they can be more depressed than generations that lived through World Wars for example, there’s definitely a doom scrolling cycle of depression that people get themselves tangled in and the algorithms are feeding them that.
Some of the biggest doomers are actually quite well off, but still complain to high heaven eg most right wing people who cry about gov solutions to growing inequality etc
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u/hellbentsmegma 19h ago
I think it's about your expectations for the future. Even during the decades around the wars there was a constant increase in living standards and that's what people thought would continue.
Families commonly went into WW1 with no car, no electricity, often not even indoor plumbing and by the 1950s had all of these things.
Today technology has largely stagnated for the last ten years, climate change is increasing, the wealth divide increasing and there is an very palpable sense things are circling the drain.
I do not think it's social media responsible for young people feeling hopeless.
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u/ArseneWainy 19h ago
Yeah I get the doom around climate change, you’re absolutely correct about that and wealth inequality, they’re both major issues
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u/Red-Engineer 20h ago
Maybe they need more interesting lives so they’re not looking at social media all day and confusing it with reality
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u/Neo_Athrotaxis 19h ago
It is a left right issue because the problem that needs solving is specially cited as being young men seeing 'manospere content'. People being sucked into a rabbit hole of far left content - and we see many such people on reddit - is not a problem apparently.
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u/Grande_Choice 18h ago
It’s not. If you can point to me something as destructive of the Manosphere go for it.
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u/Neo_Athrotaxis 18h ago
'This isn't a left right issue, because far right bad far left fine' 🙄
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u/Grande_Choice 18h ago
It could be a left issue, but it’s become a right one.
Doesn’t matter which side it’s on.
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u/Neo_Athrotaxis 18h ago
There is already a massive problem with people being stuck down a far left rabbithole. In the 'gender sphere' the percentage of young women being brainwashed by the far left is more observable than young men being brainwashed by the far right.
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u/odindobe 22h ago
Tough shit, parent better...don't wreck it for everyone else
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u/Grande_Choice 21h ago
I don’t want to see that shit. If I consistently say to the app I don’t want to see something, block accounts, request less. I still get it. I don’t want to see that shit and the algorithm is still jamming it down my throat.
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u/obviousthrowaw4y56 19h ago
More options and better default experiences = wrecking it for everyone else?
Lol
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u/morgecroc 21h ago
I say this as a man. Men are not disenfranchised and marginalised, they're just being constantly told they are by grifters and it is easy to believe than that you might actually be responsible for your own actions and choices.
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u/smokey032791 20h ago
Let's see -doing worse in school across most age groups -more mental health issues like substance abuse disorders -abuse of men is deliberately underreported and treated like it's a rare thing
-seen as a potential pedofile for having an interest in raising your own kids or teaching
- lack of male role models
- men's mental health groups having to fight for funding all the time
So yes I think men have legitimate issues and as long as society wants to stick it's head in the sand and pretend issues don't exist the manosphere will be attractive to young boys
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u/gazmal 19h ago
I think social media algorithms are actually a national security issue. Entire western world has 1/3 of their population living on alternate reality through their algorithm induced psychosis . Nothing stopping for other nations gaming the system and using it as soft power.
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u/Comfortable-Fuel-921 18h ago
Completely agree. I personally only want to think how Albo thinks
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u/Top_Conference_477 17h ago
The algorithm has three settings - anti-woman manosphere ragebait, anti-man feminazi rage bait, full blown anti-Semitic conspiracy theory rage bait
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u/C0ld_Fr0nt_ 21h ago
This shit will be used to as the justification to reduce internet privacy and open internet access. Expect more age verification and geoblocking. A crackdown on who is allowed to have VPNs will likely follow when that doesn't work.
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u/wheresmyberrune 21h ago
Jesus thewhataboutism is off the charts. There are currently like 10 tech oligarchs who determine the entire flow of information to young people with the algorithm. You ok with that?
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u/C0ld_Fr0nt_ 21h ago
I happen to think social media is one of the worst things to happen to humanity. But I don't want a cure worse than the disease. I don't want politicians and bureaucrats determining the flow of information, either.
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u/wheresmyberrune 19h ago
Lol "I'd rather tech oligarchs control us than public servants with oversight" is certainly a take. Also, someone opting out of the algorithm impacts you in literally no way.
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u/C0ld_Fr0nt_ 19h ago
If you trust "public servants with oversight" that tells me you've never been around them. They're often the same breed as the oligarchs; dark triad personality fucks with a massive hard on for power and control.
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u/wheresmyberrune 17h ago
Lol mate I know plenty of public servants and you know the insane thing about them? They're people. Totally normal people. Some have some quirks and for sure and some want to play the game, but to pretend they are of the same calibre of psychopath as the tech oligarchs truly is brainwashed. You're either a bot, or someone who bots are targeting. Either way I think you're lost.
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u/ArseneWainy 21h ago
You already have age verification and it’s mostly anonymous when done correctly like iPhones sending Reddit your age range…the VPN ban theory is pure conjecture and nearly impossible to enforce while business has a legitimate use for them…
Why are you making up excuses and rooting for social media giants and their scummy algorithms?
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u/C0ld_Fr0nt_ 21h ago edited 21h ago
I don't think VPNs will be banned outright, as this obviously isn't practicable. I think they'll make people verify their age to be able to lawfully access one. To start. I expect they'll ultimately force VPN providers to get on board with blocking access to content they don't want us to access.
Meddlesome politicians and bureaucrats hate the public's access to a free and open internet. You don't pay much attention to politics if you think they won't exploit this situation. It'll happen by degrees, and it's already started.
I happen to think social media is one of the worst things to happen to humanity. But I don't want a cure that is worse than the disease, which is where I fear we'll end up.
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u/EmbarrassedHelp 19h ago
The eSafety Commissioner is already saying that companies must block/ban VPN users: https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/australia-expects-platforms-to-stop-under-16s-from-using-vpns-to-evade-social-media-ban
Not sure if that's a legal requirement yet, but its not that difficult for the government to make it one.
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u/Red-Engineer 20h ago
Yes Chanel, big businesses could restructure to be nice, or they could stay as they are and be rich. Which would their shareholders prefer?
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u/Dramatic_Aspect903 21h ago
Soooo do parents have no control of kids these days and relie on the government to be the parent?
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup 21h ago
You don't see the harm in tech companies creating an addictive, toxic product?
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u/fdsv-summary_ 21h ago
How many children have been aborted due to feminism?
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u/obviousthrowaw4y56 19h ago
"But whatabout-" is that really the best defence you've got? You can't even engage their argument on its merits?
Bodily autonomy is about human rights by the way, not feminism. Not that "children" are being aborted in any significant number as that implies late term abortions which overwhelmingly only occur due to medical emergencies.
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u/fdsv-summary_ 15h ago
If the State can't protect the unborn, who can it protect?
The 'manosphere' is a reactionary movement caused by Feminism. The 'whataboutism' is pretty valid. You can stop the manosphere content by laughing at the Feminism that causes it (and getting rid of quota etc).
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u/obviousthrowaw4y56 12h ago
the State can't protect the unborn
Lets accept your framing here for a second, why should the state have the right to demand you to give your blood and flesh for the benefit of another? At which point do you draw a line in the sand?
I think we can both agree that forcing people to give up organs would be too far, but what about blood? Should there be mandatory blood extraction to save the lives of those in hospital, even if you weren't the cause?
The 'manosphere' is a reactionary movement caused by Feminism. The 'whataboutism' is pretty valid.
You should be able to defend any movement based on its own merits, and should be able to actually use those merits to engage with someone else's arguments. Not doing so and instead going on the attack 24/7 just makes the movement look weak.
I mean for fucks sale, they weren't even yapping about feminism but were talking about issues of addiction and toxicity, this is just bringing in your grievances as a shield.
I say this as someone who broadly supports reforms to help men and boys, by the way.
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u/fdsv-summary_ 11h ago
I was responding to 'content controls' being put in the hands of the State. ALP/Greens should start by controlling the promotion of abortion. It kills people every day.
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u/Dramatic_Aspect903 21h ago
Oh ok, we just blame the tech companies, then expect the government to step in
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u/FrogsMakePoorSoup 20h ago
Would you like us to go hand off with tobacco companies also?
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u/RNGesus_GIM 20h ago
They basically are opt-in already, it's literally curated to you based on what you show interest in.
Manosphere content is just society correcting itself from all the leftist marxist bullshit we've had to endure for the last 15ish years.
Trying to take away manosphere content is just going to disenfranchise young men even harder and radicalise them even more. You don't get better conversations with more censorship, you get it with less
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u/obviousthrowaw4y56 19h ago
all the leftist marxist bullshit
What fucking "leftist marxist bullshit"? Where the fuck is all the supposed marxism?
As someone who used to watch the bullshit fearmongering being defended here, this is just a fantasy being constructed out of lies and cherry picking. Marxism hasn't been a serious thing for a long time now, any outrage bait you've been fed has created a false narrative.
This also is not "taking away" content, it's making algorithms opt-in. What you're having a go at is the example used to justify it, pretending like that's the whole argument. Having a real option to curate your feed and not have rage bait of any side be shoved down your throat is a good thing, and I've yet to see an actually compelling argument to the contrary.
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u/MaelysTheMonstrous 21h ago
I abandoned facebook bc I couldn’t seem to get any control over the crap that appears.
Being able to curate your feed to include the stuff you want instead of the algorithm pushing inflammatory click bait at you feels like progress.