eSafety Commission calls out social media companies for allowing Aussie kids to watch gore content on their platforms
The eSafety Commission has called on social media companies to do better after research found Australian children were being exposed to real life gore and extreme violence on their platforms.
Social media companies have been slammed by the eSafety Commission for allowing Australian children to watch real life gore content and extreme violence on their platforms.
Authorities found the proliferation of violent material — including real life assassinations, brutal murders and mass casualty events — were being distributed on children’s devices via autoplay, recommendations, direct messages and reposts.
The Commission found graphic clips of bombings, dismemberments, decapitations and other real life violence were being circulated across X, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, sparking fears it could normalise extreme violence.
eSafety research found 22 per cent of children aged between 10 and 17 had been exposed to extreme real life violence online.
The Commission released urgent guidelines for parents and teachers to reduce the risk of young people being exposed to gore content.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said young people were often drawn to impress or outdo peers, with young users not fully understanding the nature of the material, its impact and its long-term consequences.
“My concern is not just how fast this material spreads, but how algorithms amplify it further,” she said.
“Algorithms reward engagement, even when that is driven by shock, fear and outrage.”
Ms Inman Grant said while most social media networks had policies that required the application of sensitive content labels or interstitials to blur gore, major platforms failed to deploy these filters quickly or consistently.
“Advanced AI tools should help aid detection, blocking and removal of content, and increase the speed in which such protective filters can and should be deployed,” she said.
“Instead, as a likely result of decreased investment in trust and safety personnel and tools, a rollback of content moderation policies and clear latency in detection, the application of these filters often lags the content’s virality.
“We expect the major platforms to do better.”
The eSafety Commission is about to rollout its social media minimum age requirement, which comes into effect on December 10.
Social media platforms will need to take reasonable steps to prevent Australian children under 16 from having social media accounts.
Originally published as eSafety Commission calls out social media companies for allowing Aussie kids to watch gore content on their platforms
