The smash hit Netflix show is not only extraordinary in its production value, and in the performances of the ensemble cast – as The Guardian put it, Adolescence is “the closest thing to TV perfection in decades” – it is also of the moment, and for the moment.

As is now well-established, the “manosphere” – a catch-all term for online sites and forums concerned with men’s rights and promoting masculinity, misogyny, and opposition to feminism – is taking hold with boys and young men globally, including and especially (as one Adolescence character said) “that Andrew Tate shite”.

A 2023 report from Australia’s eSafety Commissioner found, among other things, that Tate – a famous “manfluencer” facing criminal accusations in Britain over sexual misconduct and a criminal investigation in Romania for alleged rape, human trafficking, and money laundering – is a “key” figure for young men.

“Whether they embrace his messages, reject him or are ambivalent, engaging with Tate and his ideas is a central way in which some young men are shaping their identity as men online,” the Being a Young Man Online report said.

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Dr Justin Coulson, the Happy Families founder who co-hosts Parental Guidance on Channel 9, blogged last week that while nothing can or should diminish the shattering reality of Katie’s life being violently taken away in Adolescence, the show’s narrative unpacks Jamie’s life as a “portrait of modern boyhood in profound crisis”.

“Like so many boys – literally, boys – [Jamie] has been methodically transformed through a toxic ecosystem that most parents fail to comprehend,” Coulson said.

“At just 13, when he should be discovering his world through play and friendship – Jamie is instead trying to live up to (and is being measured against) a poisonous standard of masculinity propagated through social media.”

For practitioners in the criminal law space, the current and pervasive online zeitgeist (for boys, young men, and beyond) has profound implications.

As J Sutton Associates director and principal Andrew Tiedt said: “Masculinity and the dangerous ways some people choose to define what it means to be a man sits at the heart of large parts of the criminal law.”

Being “red-pilled” (being able to see the world as it really is – at least, according to the manosphere) is, unfortunately, “no more than the latest destructive message being preached to our boys and young men. It is inevitable that, in some cases, these attitudes spill over into violent and criminal acts”, Tiedt observed.

Cultural observations and a changing legal landscape

Emma Turnbull Lawyers director Emma Turnbull observed that the current culture of offending is “less about entirely new motivations but more a modern iteration of longstanding issues like peer pressure, cultural or religious influences, substance abuse, financial pressures, or poor modelling in the home environment”.

What has changed, she said, is the speed and scale of these influences on young people, particularly through online platforms.

“We’re seeing this play out with young offenders who offend, often in groups, stealing cars or committing home invasions, which they film and then share on Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube or in various chat groups,” she said.

“It seems that FOMO, social validation, and a strong desire to belong are key drivers behind this behaviour and a desire for this digital badge of honour, so to speak. The online world has given these influences (and negative influencers) a bigger stage and direct access to young people who are constantly online.”

Moreover, Turnbull added, there are significant mental health challenges that leave vulnerable persons easy to prey upon – something that the online realm exacerbates.

Cyber sexual offences, which are often a form of gender violence, aren’t new to criminal law, Gallant Law founder Lauren Cassimatis noted. However, what criminal lawyers are now seeing, she said, is an increase in clients (of all genders) accused of alternative types of manosphere-related digital sexism.

For example, she detailed, “sending their mates messages which denigrate their intimate partners; sharing photos of transgender people that they’ve screenshot off social media; or installing devices to film women in public toilets without their knowledge or consent”.

“The first two examples aren’t criminal acts, although they could be treated as aggravating and/or contextual evidence in criminal proceedings. Whereas, it is an offence to knowingly install or use an optical surveillance device such as a video or phone to record a private activity to which the person is not a party, without their permission,” she said.

Furthermore, Jasper Fogerty Lawyers partner Rebecca Fogerty added, there has been an increase in the number of rape and sexual assault cases that involve people who have only just met over Tinder or other dating applications.

“This isn’t just limited to male/female sexual assault cases, although these are the majority,” she said.

“Another trend is the proliferation of ‘sexts’ between young people.

“Twenty years ago, this did not exist, but now, young people sharing naked pictures of themselves, and all the myriad ways this can be abused, is standard communication.”

Cassimatis mused that she suspects “there will be criminal law reforms to address this wave of behaviour”.

Looking ahead

It is not a coincidence, Fogerty suggested, that social discourse about toxic masculinity is occurring alongside in Australia “some of the most significant law reform of sexual assault, consent, and domestic violence laws that we have had for some time”.

“For the first time I am aware of, the reform of the law around consent is occurring alongside an explicit social and educational agenda to change community attitudes about consent,” she said.

“This is fascinating, and for our children and young people, probably a good thing.”

Criminal lawyers, Turnbull said, must navigate the legal fallout in real time.

They must do this, she said, “often with the most damning evidence coming directly from our client’s own online profile content or in images/videos that police find stored on their mobile phones”.

Looking ahead, Fogerty reflected that she is pleased to see some focus on the way young male teenagers are so vulnerable to certain forms of online manipulation.

“It is not just limited to the gender wars; it is also something that has been observed in relation to terrorism offences and race-based violence,” she said.

“Ultimately, though, when looking at adolescents who commit these offences, the fact remains that we are dealing with young people who have not yet reached cognitive and psychological maturity, and likely have a bunch of other social and economic vulnerabilities.”

“Online manipulation/radicalisation does not happen in a vacuum.”