The founder of consent education organisation Teach Us Consent is set to put social media giants on notice on Wednesday, telling the National Press Club that big tech platforms are actively radicalising young men into harmful and violent sexual behaviours — and that half-measures from government and industry will not be enough to stop it.
Chanel Contos is expected to argue that bad actors operating across shared commercial infrastructure have identified male psychology as a market, collectively forming what is known as the "manosphere" — an online ecosystem that targets vulnerable young men with content promoting misogyny, dominance, and gender-based harm.
Boys fed misogynistic content within minutes of signing up
Research from Teach Us Consent found that boys aged between 16 and 18 are likely to encounter misogynistic content less than 25 minutes after first joining a social media platform — and that this occurred even when account preferences were configured to try to filter it out.
The content pipeline typically begins in seemingly innocuous spaces: gym videos, wellness content, and motivational messaging. From there, algorithms steer young male users toward material that frames physical dominance and control over women as core markers of masculine worth. Teens are routinely exposed to content suggesting women should not leave the home unaccompanied, should not hold employment, and should not manage their own finances.
Contos is expected to warn of severe consequences for young men who internalise these ideals. According to her address, men who subscribe to such beliefs are twice as likely to binge drink and eight times as likely to have suicidal thoughts compared to their peers. Most alarmingly, they are 17 times more likely to have physically assaulted a partner.
The broader harm to the community is also stark. The Australian Child Maltreatment Study, published in 2023, found that Australian teenage boys aged 16 to 18 are now committing sexual assault against children more frequently than adults are. Contos has previously pointed to online media content as a key driver, noting her organisation has documented an explosion in peer-on-peer teen sexual violence over the past five years.
The wider online landscape that facilitates and normalises such content — including controversial online communities that have long hosted or amplified misogynistic rhetoric — has drawn increasing scrutiny from researchers and policymakers in recent years.
Government moves fall short, advocates say
The speech comes days after the federal Social Services Minister signalled that the government is exploring whether Australians should be able to opt out of algorithmically curated social media feeds — a development prompted in part by the death of a 16-year-old Sydney girl, whose death was linked in reports to a suspected sexual choking act, a behaviour understood to be frequently promoted to teenage boys via pornography and social media platforms.
While Contos is expected to welcome any movement on the issue, she will argue that an opt-out model does not go nearly far enough. Her preferred model would reverse the burden entirely: social media feeds should default to showing only content from accounts a user actively follows, with algorithmic curation only activated if a user explicitly chooses it. The approach, she will say, would effectively return social media to the way it functioned roughly a decade ago.
"It would fundamentally make the transition onto social media for 16-year-olds and other children safer, and it would bring the principle of affirmative consent to our screens," Contos is expected to say, adding a pointed warning: "It is too easy for big tech to design schemes that appear as structural reform but actually suit them just fine."
Growing public pressure behind the campaign
Teach Us Consent has been actively campaigning for an end to default algorithmic feeds since 2025. An open letter to the Prime Minister calling for the change has now attracted more than 13,000 signatures from Australians.
Wednesday's National Press Club address is expected to sharpen public and political focus on whether existing and proposed regulations are genuinely protective — or merely cosmetic concessions from an industry with strong commercial incentives to keep young users engaged with provocative content.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call triple-0. For advice and counselling for men concerned about their use of family violence, call 1300 766 491.
