Teach Us Consent is a youth-led not for profit organisation that advocates for and provides holistic and age-appropriate consent education globally. We were founded in Australia by Chanel Contos in 2021. Chanel collected and published almost 7000 testimonies of sexual assault, and gained ~50,000 signatures on her petition. Teach Us Consent became a successful nation-wide campaign to mandate consent education in the national curriculum. Since turning from a campaign to a company, our mission is to eradicate sexual violence and ensure all people are equipped with the knowledge, language, and confidence to practise consent.

Many of us really like our feeds. They can take us to niche communities with people who like the same music, TV shows, sport, art and more. But alongside those positive connections, something far more dangerous is happening. Today, the same algorithms that curate our favourite content are also being weaponised. Instead of just showing men and boys game highlights, they’re pushing extreme misogynistic material designed to exploit their fears and insecurities. This isn’t a small problem - misogynistic attitudes are linked to support for violence against women.

We do not currently offer consent education workshops in schools. Please get in touch if you'd like support in finding an external provider to best suit your school's needs — we collaborate with plenty of incredible organisations we can recommend. If you would like to book with Teach Us Consent's Founder, Chanel Contos, for a speaking engagement, email hello@teachusconsent.com with an enquiry.

Yes, Australia’s National Crisis of gender-based violence is worsening. Teenage boys are now the most likely perpetrators of child sexual abuse, the number of reported sexual assault victim-survivors reached an all-time high, image-based abuse is at record highs and sexism and harassment in schools is growing at alarming rates. To address the factors fuelling this crisis, the Government should better regulate the algorithms promoting extreme misogynistic ideology to young men and boys. At the very least, we should be given a choice: opt-in or opt-out.

Absolutely and please do! We've created four mini documentaries on consent, gender expectations and digital literacy which are perfect for educational settings, and have plenty more digestible articles, vodcasts, short videos and printable assets to explore and download on our 'resources' page.

Social media platforms are designed to keep us online for as long as possible. The longer we scroll, the more advertisements we see and the more money the platforms make. To achieve this, platforms use recommender algorithms that prioritise content most likely to capture and hold our attention. The result? Content that sparks strong emotions, like outrage, fear, excitement, anger, spreads the fastest. The more extreme the reaction, the more “successful” the post becomes. Extreme misogynistic content often provokes exactly those reactions. That’s why it’s amplified.

While we were founded in Australia with a single mission — to mandate holistic and consent education in the national curriculum — our advocacy and educational work has influenced global change. Through strategic partnerships and a growing team in the UK and USA, our advocacy and education efforts are helping to shape a global movement. Consent and respectful relationships are universal rights — and we’re committed to making them a reality everywhere.

You can still support this policy but opt-in for an algorithmically-driven social media feed. Our intent is to give Australians options.

We’re always looking to creatively collaborate with values-driven partners who share our commitment to ending sexual violence and expanding consent education. From global brands like Tinder and Canva to landmark music festivals like Laneway and Beyond The Valley, we co-create culture-shifting partnerships in the spaces that matter most. Visit our partnerships page to enquire or email hello@teachusconsent.com

Unfortunately, there are many forms of harmful content circulated by social media feeds. For instance, your feed may not be misogynistic, but you still may want to opt-out of your algorithm on socials to prevent exposure to eating disorder or self harm content, mis/disinformation, other forms of hateful content, or just to give yourself a break from the doom-scroll and reset. It can even be a helpful way to spend less time on your phone.

If you think you've experienced sexual violence, know that you are not alone and it isn't your fault. There are plenty of free and accessible services to support you, like 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732). Visit our support page for more options and information. If you think you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 000.

No. This policy is all about choice, informed consent and safety. Some of us may experience more harm on some platforms than others. So, if you find one of your feeds to be less harmful, you can scroll on and opt-in. But if you’re seeing content that you think is harmful, you can always opt-out at any time.

If you’re in a position to give, donating is one of the most powerful ways to support Teach Us Consent. Your contribution directly fuels education reform, the creation of vital consent resources, strategic partnerships, and lasting policy change. Please click here for ways to give, including setting up a regular giving amount, or email hello@teachusconsent.com to discuss larger contributions and tax deductibility. If you're a brand or business, consider selecting Teach Us Consent as a charity partner through i=Change. If you're not in a place to support financially, sharing our work on social media helps us reach more people with the education they deserve.

In the European Union, where similar policies are in place, the Explore pages show content as usual. But instead of the content being personalised to you, it would show generally popular videos at the time.

The 7000 testimonies of sexual assault originally submitted to Teach Us Consent were the bedrock of the campaign to mandate consent education. They were voluntarily sent to Teach Us Consent by those who emphatically believe that inadequate consent education was the reason for the sexual abuse they experienced during or soon after school. Individually and collectively, these lived experiences were pivotal in laying bare the breadth and depth of rape culture to policy makers in Australia. We are still receiving anonymous testimonies and will publish them here periodically. Visit our testimonies page to submit yours.

Yes. This policy is about choice, informed and ongoing consent and ultimately, making social media safer by design.

Thanks so much for your interest! We’re incredibly grateful for the offer of support and may advertise a volunteer or internship position time to time so please regularly check and follow our LinkedIn and socials. The best way to help in the interim is by sharing our work or donating if you're able.

This policy will stop the “accidental” radicalisation of young men and boys. It acknowledges that often, young men and boys aren’t seeking out misogynistic content - they’re being targeted by the platforms with this radical content. If more people are given the option to use social media without recommender algorithms, we expect less people will be exposed to harmful, misogynistic content. It’s not a silver bullet but it should make online platforms safer by design to reduce rates of misogyny.

Yes - if you are from Australia or the United States. Teach Us Consent Global Limited is a tax deductible charity and is listed as a Harm Prevention Charity. Any donations made are tax deductible. Visit our donate page or get in touch at hello@teachusconsent.com

Technically speaking, no. These are protocol, rules driven businesses. There aren’t the same hurdles for implementation, so you can change them easily. And before algorithms, there were chronological feeds; so, it’s really just returning to that initial protocol. The difficulty arises in the resistance of platforms to be regulated.

Teach Us Consent have an extensive network of leading academics in Australia, United States and the United Kingdom actively supporting and reviewing all of our resources, including those we view as highly sensitive. You can learn more about our expert advisors on our team page, and if you'd like to contribute your research and knowledge please contact hello@teachusconsent.com

Recommender systems prioritise content or make personalised content suggestions to users. They’re driven by underlying algorithms.
Social media algorithms are collections of rules, signals, and data that govern how content is filtered, ranked, selected, and recommended to users on social media platforms. They determine the priority and display order of content for each user based on various factors, including user behaviour and engagement. The issue with algorithms comes about when they create concentrated neighbourhoods of harmful content.

No. Teach Us Consent is a non-partisan, secular charity. Our focus is on public health, education, and safety for all people, regardless of background or belief.

Currently, some apps allow you to customise your feeds in different ways. Some give you the option to turn off personalised feeds. However, they don’t go all the way: personalised feeds still remain the default on social media, feeds often easily revert back to personalisation if you leave the app, and ultimately, there’s no legislation that requires platforms to have an opt-in option, so most don’t offer this option as the default.

If you opt-out of a personalised feed, you can still be advertised to. However, the ads will be less personalised and targeted.