Parents will be urged to learn about harmful misogyny online and discuss it with their children as part of the federal government’s measures to tackle men’s violence against women.
New ad campaigns will launch next month focusing on the harms caused by misogyny, including a new tool to let adults see the kind of social media feeds their children may be scrolling, with a particular focus on controversial social media influencers spreading harmful gender stereotypes or condoning violence against women.
Online experts have warned of a “deeply rooted problem” where YouTube and TikTok algorithms can take young men down a rabbit hole of violent content, with concerns many parents may not yet understand the kind of videos their children see.
A new phase of the Stop it at the Start anti-violence campaign will launch from June, with a focus on “counter-influencing” misogynist content in online spaces.
Guardian Australia understands the campaign will include mainstream social media platforms, chatrooms and message boards, as well as traditional advertising streams. Campaigns will cater to First Nations and multicultural communities.
The campaign about children viewing misogynist content online will centre on the idea that “disrespect is trending in their world”, encouraging adults to educate themselves about the issue. It will run alongside a redevelopment of the Respect.gov.au website which will include a feature referred to as the “algorithm of disrespect” – a tool simulating the average social media feed of a young Australian to show parents what kind of content their kids may see.
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, told Channel Seven: “It won’t be enough for me until we don’t see any women living in fear, any children living in fear as a result of violence from men in this country … I won’t be satisfied until we don’t see any more women dying.”
According to the government, research shows 25% of Australian teenage boys look up to online personalities posting misogynist content. The government has not ruled out engaging social media influencers to create their own anti-misogynist content, similar to anti-vaping campaigns which tapped online personalities against smoking.
“A lot of what is being pushed is unfortunately negative and the way in which you counter that is by really flooding the market with something better,” the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, told Guardian Australia’s Australian Politics podcast.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, Rishworth and Rowland said in a statement on Wednesday: “It will raise awareness about a proliferation of misogynistic influencers and content, and encourage conversations within families about the damaging impact of the material.”
Wednesday’s announcement came alongside establishing the leaving violence payment, making permanent and revamping a trial version which will continue until the improved program begins in 2025.
On ABC radio, Albanese raised concern about social media serving up dangerous content to children.
“One of the tragedies is that the way the algorithms work is that it’s not like a young person has to go searching for this, sometimes it’s material searching for them,” he said.
“It is something that is raised with me by parents, probably more than any other issue … It’s the opposite of teaching people respectful relationships.
“This isn’t free speech to promote hatred and violence and misogyny. We need to have that debate as a society.”
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Elise Thomas, an analyst with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, co-wrote a 2022 paper which found YouTube algorithms for young men quickly start to recommend misogynist, “alt-right” or “incel” content.
She said the trend was surprising and perhaps an issue many parents did not understand – noting the issue was more prominent on platforms such as YouTube and TikTok than Facebook or X.
“It’s a deeply rooted problem,” she said. “There is risk of conflating getting the problem off your screen, with getting rid of the problem itself.
“We can prevent algorithms from making the problem worse. It’s not about a focus on specific pieces of content but to think about the broader system around it, the broader algorithmic recommendation of such content.”
Simon Copland, an honorary fellow at the Australian National University and researcher in online misogyny, also raised concerns about YouTube rabbit holes. He said the platform’s algorithm of recommended videos could create a pathway to “stumbling” on to such content from starting places like workout or self-help videos.
Copland said young men attracted to these online spaces were often searching for community or friendship, saying many may have been bullied or ostracised. He suggested greater investment in local community organisations and men’s social groups, including people who had escaped such communities, so young men had an “alternative landing point” instead of gravitating toward such online ecosystems.
“Ad campaigns don’t hurt … but it’s about the more localised stuff, training up local men, local leaders, setting up men’s groups,” Copland said.
“They need spokespeople who know the community, who can sell those messages.”