An algorithm off switch isn’t enough. A digital duty of care must hold tech bros accountable for addictive designs
A digital duty of care is about a lot more than opting out of “the algorithm”. And after the simplistic and at best patchy exercise of the under-16s social media ban, we shouldn’t let the government get away with another populist policy that looks good on the surface but doesn’t get to the core of the problem.
A digital duty of care must hold the tech bros accountable for the safety of the spaces that they have created.
Like the social media age ban – and indeed the government’s paltry efforts on gambling advertising – an algorithm opt-out maintains the onus on the consumer and is only one piece of the framework needed to manage the fact “the algorithm” is currently controlling the world.
There’s a lot to be said for the Chanel Contos-driven “Fix our feeds” campaign, which has drawn much-needed attention to the effect of “the algorithm” – particularly when it comes to online misogyny and sexual violence, normalisation of pornography and strangulation during sex.
“It is too easy for big tech to design schemes that appear as structural reform but actually suit them just fine,” the sexual consent advocate said in a speech to the........
