Chanel Contos, founder of Teach Us Consent, will deliver her second address to the National Press Club on Wednesday (AAP: Mick Tsikas)
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 will use a National Press Club speech to further her push for algorithmic feeds to be "opt-in".
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.
Consent advocate Chanel Contos is urging the federal government to pursue an opt-in for algorithmic social media feeds, as it will be "too easy" for tech giants to design their way around weaker reforms.
Ms Contos will make the case for reining in harmful algorithms, which she says are exposing young people to misogynistic "manosphere" content and fuelling the prevalence of sexual violence in Australia, during a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has backed giving Australians more control over the content they are served online but has stopped short of backing the algorithm opt-in model proposed by Ms Contos.
"In response to community concern about the impact of algorithms, we are considering options to ensure people have greater control over what they receive on their devices," Mr Albanese said.
Anthony Albanese says Australians should have more control over what they see on their devices but has not backed an opt-in model. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
In an excerpt of her speech, seen by the ABC, Ms Contos will argue an opt-out system for algorithms would be a "first step" and congratulate the government for seeking to address the issue.
"However, opt-in algorithms 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," she will say.
"This is crucial, and the detail in any reform will determine its success."
Algorithms are the automated systems used by social media platforms to decide which posts, videos and other content a user sees and in what order, based on factors such as their behaviour and apparent interests.
Algorithms dictate what users see on social media, but exactly how they work is kept under wraps. (Unsplash: Sanket Mishra / a person laying in bed holding a cell phone / licence)
Ms Contos, who is the founder and chief executive of advocacy group Teach Us Consent, launched the "fix our feeds" campaign calling for the government to mandate an "opt-in" for algorithms in December last year.
