Paul Murphy blasts big tech for pushing misogyny to young men
Paul Murphy criticised social media platforms for promoting misogynistic content to young men and called for recommender algorithms to be switched off. He accused tech billionaires of profiting from sexist and toxic content, cited DCU and Meta research, and urged people to protest on International Women's Day in Dublin.
He described a "broligarchy" of Zuckerberg and Musk and said major platforms are profiting from pushing misogynistic, sexist content at teenage boys and men. He singled out influencer Andrew Tate as the most notorious example and said the problem is driven by platforms seeking longer watch time rather than public safety.
He cited DCU researchers who set up blank, male-identified accounts on TikTok and YouTube and found anti-feminist and toxically masculine content served within 23 minutes, with three quarters of recommended content toxic after two to three hours. He also referenced Meta's internal finding that 64 per cent of extremist group joins are due to recommendation tools and a leaked Meta document saying moderation is practically impossible but distribution can be limited.
He said researchers and draft bodies recommended turning off recommender algorithms by default, but that Commission Le Mans' draft language was removed from the final online safety code after tech companies intervened. He argued platforms will not act voluntarily because recommending misogynistic content makes them richer.
He argued Ireland is in a uniquely powerful position because many of the biggest social media companies are headquartered there and urged the State to force companies to turn off toxic algorithms. He called for public action, urging people to be on the streets against gender-based violence on International Women's Day, starting in Dublin at 1 o'clock at Dublin City Hall on Saturday.
Big tech and misogyny
He described a "broligarchy" of Zuckerberg and Musk and said major platforms are profiting from pushing misogynistic, sexist content at teenage boys and men. He singled out influencer Andrew Tate as the most notorious example and said the problem is driven by platforms seeking longer watch time rather than public safety.
Evidence from research
He cited DCU researchers who set up blank, male-identified accounts on TikTok and YouTube and found anti-feminist and toxically masculine content served within 23 minutes, with three quarters of recommended content toxic after two to three hours. He also referenced Meta's internal finding that 64 per cent of extremist group joins are due to recommendation tools and a leaked Meta document saying moderation is practically impossible but distribution can be limited.
Regulatory setbacks
He said researchers and draft bodies recommended turning off recommender algorithms by default, but that Commission Le Mans' draft language was removed from the final online safety code after tech companies intervened. He argued platforms will not act voluntarily because recommending misogynistic content makes them richer.
Ireland's role and public protest
He argued Ireland is in a uniquely powerful position because many of the biggest social media companies are headquartered there and urged the State to force companies to turn off toxic algorithms. He called for public action, urging people to be on the streets against gender-based violence on International Women's Day, starting in Dublin at 1 o'clock at Dublin City Hall on Saturday.
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Transcript
If we want to tackle gender-based violence, we will have to call a halt to the tidal wave of misogyny coming at young men on social media every single day. It is disgusting that the big social media corporations, the so-called big tech broligarchy of Zuckerberg and Musk, are profiting from pushing misogynistic, sexist content at teenage boys and men. Rapist and human trafficker Andrew Tate, now embraced with open arms by Donald Trump, effectively freed by Donald Trump, is only the most notorious of the influencers in a growing manosphere. This is not about censorship, it is about stopping billionaires like Elon Musk from enriching themselves even further by pushing misogynistic content aimed at young men. All they care about is getting people to keep watching them for longer and longer in order to make money out of them. Researchers at DCU set up blank, male-identified social media accounts on TikTok and YouTube. Within 23 minutes, they were served up anti-feminist and toxically masculine content, whether they looked for it or not. After two to three hours of running these accounts, three quarters of the recommended content to these male accounts was toxic. Meta's own internal research has found that 64 per cent of all extremist group joins are due to our recommendation tools. Our recommendation systems grow the problem. A leaked internal meta document states that effective content moderation is practically impossible, but we can at least stop magnifying harmful content by giving it unnatural distribution. They can, but they won't, because recommending misogynistic content makes them rich, so they don't care that it is fueling gender-based violence and a growing gender divide around the world. The conclusion that the researchers reached was to turn off recommender algorithms by default. Commission Le Mans recommended that too in its draft online safety code until the tech companies got to it and the final version omits any reference to these recommender algorithms. Ireland is in a uniquely powerful position on this. Many of the biggest social media corporations are headquartered here. We have to make them turn off these toxic algorithms for good. That's one of the many reasons that people should be on the streets against gender-based violence this International Women's Day, starting in Dublin at one o'clock at Dublin City Hall on Saturday.