00:02I think they've got to use the powers that they've got to take action against tech companies
00:07when they're flagrantly breaching the rules that currently exist.
00:12If there's a need for more legislation, then Ofcom shouldn't be scared to ask the government
00:16for that.
00:17This is a fast-moving technology.
00:21We also know it can cause huge benefits, but also huge disbenefits and huge harm as well.
00:26I've seen the influence of some of these manifest influencers.
00:29We know that there are boys and young men influenced by some of the stuff being speared up,
00:34but also we know that poison is monetized in a certain way because of the way the algorithms work.
00:42And I think the tech companies should be asked to explain their algorithms.
00:47They should be asked to explain how misogyny spreads like wildfire.
00:51They should be asked to change their algorithm.
00:54Ofcom has got powers, and if they're saying they've not got enough powers,
00:58they should ask the government for more power.
00:59Speaking to an audience of founders and investors at SXSW in London on Tuesday,
01:07Sir Sadiq Khan said tech firms must prove their services as safe for children.
01:12However, he said a ban alone will not solve online misogyny,
01:16nor the challenges to masculinity from online influencers from the manosphere.
01:22He called on tech companies to explain how misogyny spreads like wildfire on their platforms and publicly set out how
01:31they'll adjust their algorithms to stop it,
01:34adding if they refuse to act, then the state will step up.
01:38Announcing a £1 million package of measures to support boys and young men across the capital,
01:45he warned that online misogyny risks a lost generation of young men,
01:51branding so-called manosphere influencers,
01:54snake oil salesmen who take advantage of young men's ambition to peddle pound shop misogyny.
02:01He also called for efforts to engage young men amid the conversations around toxic masculinity,
02:09rather than risk leaving many feeling alienated and looking for validation.
02:13So yeah, we think there are six features that are common across lots of social media platforms,
02:19gaming platforms, messaging, AI chatbots that pose risk to children.
02:24And that's what we've seen from our operational work.
02:26And they are the ability, the mass discoverability of children.
02:30So offenders can find children online, that they can then contact them,
02:35even though they're not a contact of them originally, they're not known to the child.
02:39They can move them onto a end-to-end encrypted messaging app,
02:44so they can continue their abuse in a way that no one can see.
02:48We are also worried about harmful algorithms.
02:51Algorithms are crucial to the internet, of course, absolutely fundamental.
02:55But there's so much of it that is pushed through that is harmful, so that needs to change.
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