Dr. Emily Bourke:

I thank the committee for having us here today. I am speaking on behalf of BelonG To, a national LGBTQ+ youth organisation. We work directly with young people aged 14 to 23, and every day we support them to navigate identity, mental health and digital life. I am joined by Rob Byrne, who is here today as a representative for the youth voice of BelonG To.

We regularly consult the young people we work with on online safety, and two particular concerns have emerged in recent years: recommender algorithms and moderation of hateful content. Young people want to have the choice to opt in or out of online recommender systems and algorithms, allowing them more control over what they see online and the amount of time they spend on social media. While many of the young people we work with speak of the positives of social media as a place where they can find community and learn about their identity, they also express serious concerns about the content that is pushed to them and their peers. They see hateful and anti-LGBTQ+ content daily and algorithms push it because it gets a reaction from people, despite the harm it causes.

They are also troubled by the recent weakening of content moderation by online platforms. In light of this, we have been advocating for strong enforcement of the Digital Services Act by the EU on the protection of minors, with risk assessment and solutions that reduce harmful and hateful content online.

Importantly, responsibility for the implementation and upholding of these solutions must fall to the online platforms responsible for the content rather than to civil society or affected individuals primarily. I will now hand over to Mr. Byrne who will illustrate some of the additional concerns that young LGBTQ people are dealing with as AI becomes more pervasive.