Like-minded people have targeted algorithms used by tech firms they say are pushing boys towards content by misogynist influencer Andrew Tate as they defeated the government over changes to the online safety law.
Baroness Kidron, who supported the amendments, argued that algorithms were not adequately covered in the bill.
But they might recommend harmful content to children, she said.
The government argued that the changes would delay other child protection measures, but failed by a majority of 72 votes.
“Such an amendment to the Online Safety Act will only weaken and ultimately delay the protection of children in the long term and it is disappointing that the House of Lords voted in favor of it,” the Government said.
The bill, which is in the final stages of implementation, aims to regulate user-to-user service providers such as social media companies and search engines to protect users from “harmful” and illegal content.
Crossbench colleague Baroness Kidron, who called for the changes, argued that while the bill targets content such as harmful posts on social media, it doesn’t address the harm caused by the way a company has designed its services .
That would include, for example, “content-neutral” algorithms that “deliberately push 13-year-old boys towards Andrew Tate — not for any substantive reason, but simply on the basis that 13-year-old boys are similar to one another and one of them was already on.” this side.”
Mr Tate, who is under house arrest in Romania, has been charged with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang for the sexual exploitation of women.
The influencer denies all allegations against him.
A self-proclaimed misogynist, he has been banned from numerous social media platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok – with the latter saying that “misogyny is a hateful ideology that will not be tolerated”.
Tate was suspended from Twitter but has since been reinstated.
Speaking in the House of Lords, Baroness Kidron said that the impact of algorithmic recommendations “had rocked our schools as teachers and girls struggled with the attitudes and actions of little boys, and torn families apart who no longer recognized their sons and brothers .”
“Pushing hundreds of thousands of children to Andrew Tate just to profit commercially from the network effect is a travesty for children and undermines parents.”
Baroness Kidron also criticized other harmful design choices such as the “many hundreds of little reward loops that make a doomscroll or a game addictive”.
Doomscrolling is internet slang for the compulsive search for negative news on social media.
Games will be governed by the bill if they allow user-to-user interaction.
Conservative MP Baroness Harding, the former chief executive of telecommunications company TalkTalk, backed the proposals, as did Liberal Democrat MP Baroness Benjamin.
The peer and vice president of children’s charity Barnardo’s said the changes sent a “loud, long message to the industry that they are responsible for the design of their products”.
Both Liberal Democrat and Labor Party spokesmen also backed the amendments.
But Culture Secretary Lord Parkinson said the bill makes it clear “that functions, features and design play a key role in the risk of a child being harmed online”.
He said the government could not accept the changes, claiming the changes could “weaken” the bill or potentially allow companies to “exploit legal uncertainty”.
Add Comment