“We need to show it as is”: No apologies in confronting Todd Sampson series

Be warned. The opening segment of Mirror, Mirror: Love & Hate is confronting stuff, especially for parents.

But Todd Sampson’s new documentary about how the internet is affecting the way we relate to each other, had to be realistic.

Sampson says although there are classification limits in an early evening timeslot, the doco does not shy away from telling parents about the dangers of online. He also praises Network 10 for not shying away from the content in his second Mirror Mirror doco.

“10 never flinched. There were some learnings from the last season, but as a creative partner 10 is sensational. They do not get in the way at all. They’re not trying to editorialise our show. They’re not trying to make it fit some kind of commercial framework. They just let us do it,” he tells TV Tonight.

“But we learned a couple of things, like there were some issues with nudity last season. If we want the slot to be 7:30, which it is, then there’s a few things we need to be sensitive to. But my arguments, and you’ve seen the opening segment, it’s pretty full on

“My argument against us filtering too much is that kids are living in one world, and adults and regulators are living in another world. For kids, this is normal. For us as adults, we’re gonna watch it and go, ‘Whoa, why are we letting that happen?’ But for kids, it’s their life.

“So my argument to 10 was, ‘We need to show it as is. We may think this is shocking. But this is the normal world for children.'”

Episode One centres around the theme of Love, an includes online chat, camming, influencers, virtual relationships, (soft) porn, OnlyFans, Instagram and TikTok. There’s an interview with Avalon who offers mermaid fantasies and ex Big Brother contestant Tilly who went viral when she (disastrously) tattooed freckles her face.

Successful influencers work fulltime at their content, and turn it into a lucrative business. But Sampson points to dangers of addiction, power, and the Like button, all of which are money makers for big tech companies.

“Even globally, who has that level of reach and influence?”

“There’s that one young woman who tattooed her face and it got 34 million views. Even globally, who has that level of reach and influence? These influencers have hundreds of millions of followers. But they’re not writing one article their followers see once or twice a week. They’re in contact with them every 20 minutes. That’s a whole other level of influence and we can’t ignore it.

“We are 4.6 billion people trapped in an experiment controlled by some white American men. Two thirds of the population are on this thing and growing. So it’s not about kids per se, it’s also not about adults, but all of us. My worry, which I say at the end of the film, is the bigger concern: are we wasting a generation of kids? We now know there are correlations between self harm, depression, mental illness, suicide.

“It’s correlated to the Like button.”

“They used to believe it was about screen time. Now they believe it’s correlated to the Like button. That’s a pretty big finding that we’re only getting to now.”

Episode Two shifts to the subject of Hate, which Sampson reckons is “more full on” than Episode One.

“In Episode Two, we cover QAnon conspiracy theories. There’s an incredible young man in Melbourne who fell straight into the hole of QAnon and his father is still in the hole. We talk about how conspiracy theories, COVID theories, grip people’s attention and hold them and how these social media companies amplify it. We cover catfishing, which is a sad story. There’s a young boy who was (a victime of) image-based abuse as a 12 year old. It also goes to a woman who lost her daughter in cyber bullying. It’s a very heartfelt story.

“The second half of the film is all about the solutions and the practical things we can do as parents and the fight we need to have for regulation.”

Regulation of the internet is Sampson’s #1 priority following his months of research in making the film. As a parent he wants to see more rules for the wild wild web. But he’s not against its benefits, either.

“The internet has revolutionised our lives. There’s so many good things, connecting people in disadvantaged communities, it’s brought together lovers. It’s allowed people to connect.

“There needs to be regulation”

“I agree with all of that, and I don’t want to lose any of that. All that’s good, and even a little bit of the bad is fine. But there needs to be regulation. It’s not binary. It’s not either you get all of that or none of it. We can have all of the good stuff, with a bit more regulation to protect our kids, but a bit more regulation to protect us and to stop global agendas.”

In Episode Two he offers some solutions, especially for parents.

“On an individual level, there’s plenty we can do. One I really recommend is no devices in the bedrooms for kids after eight o’clock. Telling kids you cannot have your phone is like telling them not to breathe. But we have to acknowledge the internet companies now own how we communicate,” he insists.

‘We’re most vulnerable at night”

“But we can self regulate, and we’re most vulnerable at night. The research shows, homophobia, image based abuse, body image, body shaming… the majority of that stuff happens at night. If you’re a young kid, your brain hasn’t fully developed until your mid 20s, you’re alone in your bedroom, super vulnerable, you’re getting hammered at night. So if we can cut off maybe eight o’clock charge phones outside your room.

“The other thing that’s good for you is a digital detox. Take a weekend off. A day off. I did it with my family and it was a nightmare.

“I’ve got two teenage daughters that are both swimming in the water.

“But I think it is arguably one of the most important global crises that we now face.”

Mirror, Mirror: Love & Hate airs 7:30pm Monday & Tuesday on 10.

Lifeline 13 11 14
Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36
eSafety Australia