Editorial: Proof big tech isn’t serious on crime

If trillion-dollar companies can’t get an algorithm to remove vile criminal content, clearly they are not trying, writes the editor.

There is an accomplice in our youth crime wave that continues to get away with it: the social media giants.

Putting profits before any sense of community responsibility, the major platforms – Meta in particular – continue to turn a blind eye as young thugs post boastful videos or brag about their crimes.

This isn’t just a record of crimes – it encourages others to commit illegal acts and even sets “challenges” for other criminals, leading to more extreme and violent crimes as damaged youths chase notoriety and “likes”.

And despite paying lip-service to removing these posts, an investigation in The Courier-Mail today has found videos of car theft, drug taking and dealing and burglary that have remained online for more than a year.

These companies have developed software and algorithms to remove such posts. They are super effective when instantly blocking a picture that may feature, say, a stray nipple. But they are deliberately not set to weed out evidence of criminal behaviour.

And it seems Australians have had enough of the mealy-mouthed excuses when some of the world’s richest corporations try to explain why it’s so hard to do the right thing.

Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner Shane Chelepy said social media companies had a responsibility to the community.

“I think all of our social media platforms … could look at it more through a community safety lens than a business lens,” Mr Chelepy said.

Last month Premier Steven Miles lashed Meta after the social media giant reneged on a deal that had seen it pay for news content.

“Those social media companies are out of control,” Mr Miles said.

“They are making trillions of dollars and they do not care about the communities that they are in.

“They don’t care about the importance of local reporting.

“They don’t care about the crimes that they promote on their platforms – they are literally profiting off those things.

“It’s about time we had a really good look at the power of these social media companies, how much money they’re making here, and how little they care about Australians.”

Meanwhile last week the Northern Territory Chief Minister Eva Lawler wrote to Meta accusing it of “encouraging and reinforcing” youth crime.

“The impact of social media on youth crime in the Northern Territory needs to be examined,” Ms Lawler said in her letter to Meta Australia managing director William Easton on Thursday.

“It is critical that criminal and anti-social behaviour is not amplified and given a platform on social media.

“Social media algorithms are poorly understood in the community but they can have powerful impacts on influencing what young people view and engage with.”

Online content can be removed by the eSafety commissioner but at present it is a convoluted process that will shortly be reviewed.

The federal opposition is at least trying, proposing a new bill that will give the eSafety commissioner stronger powers to take criminal content down, and will hit the tech giants with fines of $156,000 if they fail to comply.

It’s certainly an avenue worth pursuing, but it is gobsmacking that it has come to this. If trillion-dollar companies can’t get an algorithm to remove this vile content, if they can’t employ people to monitor and block these abhorrent accounts, clearly they are not trying.

FINE IDEA TO GET SUPERMARKETS IN LINE

Heavy fines for supermarkets guilty of gouging Australian shoppers is a practical way of bringing the cost of living back under control.

A food and grocery review, chaired by former Labor minister Craig Emerson has recommended penalties of up to $10m, 10 per cent of a supermarket’s annual turnover, or three times the benefit gained from a breach to act a real deterrent.

The current fines, while substantial, are the equivalent of being slapped with a wet lettuce for Coles and Woolies, who boast annual revenues $5bn or more.

Coles and Woolies have denied any price gouging.

Dr Emerson, a former competition minister, said current fines were “not effective”.

He will also recommend the voluntary code that governs how supermarkets interact with suppliers be made mandatory and enforceable by the ACCC.

Shoppers – and farmers – desperate for a break will have to wait until later in the year for Treasurer Jim Chalmers to sign off on the final recommendations.

We hope he does.

And until then, we hope that the big supermarkets do not need the threat of massive fines to treat shoppers and farmers fairly.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here

Originally published as Editorial: Proof big tech isn’t serious on crime