It's very clear that social media is not the safest place for trans folks - that why I'm supporting TGV to provide more in-person peer-support in regional Victoria!
Every dollar you donate for GiveOut Day will be matched if you donate before Thursday: giveoutday.org.au/kath-albury
![Findings:
Our orgs want cheap reach into our
PLWHIV communities for our messages and community development BUT it isn't working anymore. Reach is limited. AND social media less safe.
Workshop participant
We've done quite a bit of thinking about how, as an organisation, we're going to manage those group conversations [on messaging apps] - given that there's a sort of 24/7 potential for people to be engaging and talking. And how we work around moderation, and our staff's right to switch off, and all of those kind of things.
Manager](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:uy3dbfelt4fal4s2lubnwl3e/bafkreieodbnzg4jmo3ni4nqt2w7tlnxmlcbframvq72mmgp4qzn4mrbxzu)
Findings: Our orgs want cheap reach into our PLWHIV communities for our messages and community development BUT it isn't working anymore. Reach is limited. AND social media less safe. Workshop participant We've done quite a bit of thinking about how, as an organisation, we're going to manage those group conversations [on messaging apps] - given that there's a sort of 24/7 potential for people to be engaging and talking. And how we work around moderation, and our staff's right to switch off, and all of those kind of things. Manager
Kath’s participants identified social media as a site of risk for workplace health and safety for people doing sexual health work in the digital space - this reflects my own experience but I feel it’s gotten so much worse in just the last few years #HIVAIDS2025 #ASRH2025 @katha.bsky.social
Supporting digital capabilities in a way that also supports rights and autonomy means moving away from an understanding of the term that relies on individual knowledge. Individual knowledge is insufficient in situations of systems and governance failure #HIVAIDS2025 #ASRH2025 @katha.bsky.social
Why are digital capabilities important for the HIN sector? • Digital and data technologies are central to both health and social support systems and community experiences of connection, wellbeing & learning • 'Digital health' is not the same thing as 'digital public health' • Digital content moderation policies often flag HIV/SRH content as 'against community standards' • Targeted harassment and surveillance of marginalised communities is increasing - impacting health consumers and health organisations.
Digital transformation policy environment National Strategies and Plans • The Digital Health Blueprint and Action Plan 2023 - 2033, Australian Department of Health and Aged Care • The Digital Health Action Plan, 2023 • National Digital Health Strategy 2023-2028, Australian Digital Health Agency • National Digital Health Strategy and Roadmap 2023 - 2028, ADHA • National Digital Health Capability Action Plan, 2023 • Australian Digital Health Capability Framework, ADHA/AIDH, 2024 Platform content moderation policies • Meta's 'community notes' fact-checking model 2025 • Meta's changes to hateful conduct policy to allow more 'free speech' 2025 International Guidance • Global Strategy on Digital health 2020-2025 - WHO, 2020 *recently extended until 2027. • Guidance on the rights-based ethical use of digital technologies in HIV and health programmes - UNDP, 2021 • UNICEF Safer Chatbots Implementation Guide - UNICEF, 2022 • The role of artificial intelligence in sexual and reproductive health and rights - WHO, 2024 • Digital transformation handbook for primary health care - WHO, 2024 e-Safety Office • Online Safety Act 2021 • Industry codes and standards (ratified 2025) • Phase 1: illegal content (eg. child exploitation material) • Phase 2: preventing young people from accessing “inappropriate' content
The amazing @katha.bsky.social presenting on building digital capabilities in hostile social media environments. The context stuff is fascinating - this has been a deeply weird but also vitally important four year period for Kath to have been leading this research #HIVAIDS2025 #ASRH2025
Featuring @katha.bsky.social @floreani.bsky.social and guest presenters from across the sector, @muyiiyamu.bsky.social Melanie Bissessor, Caitlin Learmonth, Daniel Reeders, Amy Tong, and Jess Wilms.
A new research-backed digital platform, led by Prof Kath Albury, has been developed to help health professionals & communities navigate the overwhelming & often unreliable online information about sexual & reproductive health by building digital & data capabilities @katha.bsky.social
bit.ly/3Vu0cKh
New paper on our Heart Yarning Tool! Summarising how we codesigned shared decision making support for Heart Health Checks with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @sydney.edu.au @sydneyhealthlitlab.bsky.social @isdmsociety.bsky.social
Gaza has recorded the most health-care worker deaths (over 1400 deaths), UN deaths (295) & journalist deaths (212) than in any recent conflict zone.
Life expectancy at birth dropped 35 yrs in 2024. From Oct '23-May '25, there were 720 attacks on healthcare targets www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
The following text presented using bulleted banners: Suggested guidance for #developers of #digitalsexualhealth tools: 1. Involve end users early 2. Engage your target population, including ‘extreme users’ 3. Create opportunities for unexpected input 4. Involve users more than once 5. Close the feedback loop
Our suggested guidance for #developers of #digitalsexualhealth tools...
Thanks to my coauthors Ethan Cardwell (Uni of Melb.), @katha.bsky.social, Paul Flowers of @unistrathclyde.bsky.social, Mark Gilbert of @ubcpublichealth.bsky.social & @ericpfchow.bsky.social.
@digital-health.bsky.social
3/3
New publication reviewing research literature reporting on user involvement the design of digital HIV and sexual health tools- led by @aliciajeanking.bsky.social & Ethan Trey Cardwell, with a great set of illustrious co-authors. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
"The book about Gamergate we have been waiting for."
@lareviewofbooks.bsky.social includes "Gaming Democracy: How Silicon Valley Leveled Up the Far Right" by @adriennemassanari.bsky.social in a round-up of new scholarship about the alt-right:
This is bang on the money
What did potential users of an #AI application to identify observable changes in their genital or anal area?
Read more in our #openaccess article in #digitalhealth: doi.org/10.1177/2055...
In brief, participants described a potential pathway to better #sexualhealth promoted by the AiSTi tool…
1/
Privileged to be a part of this project, led by the incomparable Britt Paris.
Do you know someone looking for a great PhD opportunity with a great academic supervisor? PhD scholarship to “reimagine AI answer systems for critical AI literacy in Australia” hblog.org/2025/06/18/p...
Congratulations Jathan!
Our free Computational Social Science (CSS) Summer School is open to graduate students, researchers, journalists, and analysts interested in CSS, textual, and network analysis of social media data — no prior experience is needed! socialmedialab.ca/2025/06/28/2...
My PhD framework is now LIVE!
We co-designed 5 recommendations for improving social media health communication to young people, with young people and health orgs📱
🔗: www.sydneyhealthliteracylab.org.au/social-media-comms-for-young-people-framework
#AcademicSky #PhDSky #PhDSky #PublicHealth 🦘🎓
Aussies love/don't know what age assurance is, Iran WhatsApp ban and Mastodon's AI plea
Plus: Turn newsletters into RSS
READ: thesizzle.com.au/p/aussies-love-don-t-kno...
The following thread contains 201 open access articles, books, chapters & reports written and led by First Nations’ researchers. We write our own research across all areas. The order is random and ranges across disciplines, because of course it does.
#201FirstNationsArticles
Springer-Nature launched a series of "Discover" journals that closely mimic MDPI titles -- sharing *identical* journal names, and likely similar business model.
What is going on, and why researcher will - as always - fall for it?
A 🧵
the-strain-on-scientific-publishing.github.io/website/post...
Patterns of surprise - a collab between the TRAVIS team (@perceptionalize.bsky.social & @andreaschaffer.bsky.social) & the ever-inspiring @annettemarkham.bsky.social on aggregated autoethnography, a method I really love. It's part of a SI available OA www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fq...
Solidarity Shaun, to you and all our Macquarie colleagues
While new online industry codes aim to protect children from harmful content, experts warn they could unintentionally restrict access to vital sexual health and education resources, particularly for young and marginalised groups. @katha.bsky.social #SexEd #DigitalRights
bit.ly/45szRlO
Well known, Palestinian artist Elham Al-Boddi, 33, of Beit Lahia, was killed in an airstrike yesterday.
Her husband had been killed months earlier.
We are pleased to announce that the Australian Research Council-funded Digital and Data Capabilities for Sexual and Reproductive Health knowledge translation website is live!
Visit ddcsrh.com for evidence-based resources supporting digital transformation in the SRH sector.
New piece out with the @admscentre.org.au Ad Observatory team: what political ads are Australians seeing online? We map the ads of #auspol2025. @internetobservatory.org.au @gisellenewton.bsky.social @markandrejevic.bsky.social @kateeuph.bsky.social
theconversation.com/what-politic...
This is one of the worst violations of research ethics I've ever seen. Manipulating people in online communities using deception, without consent, is not "low risk" and, as evidenced by the discourse in this Reddit post, resulted in harm.
Great thread from Sarah, and I have additional thoughts. 🧵
