Australia: Social Media Algorithms

Lord Roe of West Wickham Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

The noble Lord makes a very interesting point, and I would be very keen to discuss it further with him. We are working with different and conflicting issues. We are really keen that it is a priority to make sure that people have trusted sources of news and they know that those news sources that come to the top of their feeds are the most trustworthy. I would be surprised if there was a huge number of people who wanted to turn off an option to get trusted news at the top of their feed, but I am happy to discuss that further with the noble Lord.

[Lord Roe of West Wickham (Lab)]

My Lords, alongside the Question my noble friend rightly asked about how we might ban or prevent people accessing harmful content and poorer models, can my noble friend the Minister say what we are doing to help generate good role models, and therefore algorithms that do not get banned? If I think about my own sport, boxing, which I have been involved in since I was 15 years old, it is awash with really good male role models, rather than the toxic kind we often see. How is her department helping to support grass-roots youth, sports, community hubs and interventions in a way that might generate better content that people do not need to ban?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

My noble friend must be commended for being the first person to bring a boxing ring into the Houses of Parliament. It was a remarkable event and full of energy. The young people who came along were a credit to themselves, their families and the very trusted adults who brought them along. We are keen to counter the impact that online content can have, particularly on boys and young men. We think about the exposure to misogynistic, abusive and extremist content in this field. We co-produced the Government’s youth strategy with young people. As well as ensuring that more young people have access to trusted adults, we will have a £500 million investment in youth services over the next few years. We are also working with departments across government to increase the investment in this space. I commend all those who are involved in getting positive role models.