Trump calls off execution live stream + Marc Fennell enters the manosphere

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:08)

Hello, happy Friday, and welcome to The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt with Hugh. A lot has been said about the Manosphere by people looking in from the outside. But what's it like to actually go on the inside? Today, we hear from a journalist who spent time with the men selling it and the men who have left it. He also spent weeks scrolling with a burner phone just to see what young men are being fed online.

Marc Fennell (0:30)

I was just sitting there watching this thing going.

I feel like an empty husk looking at this thing. And yes, I did start to refer to it as the demon phone because I just learned to hate it so much.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:43)

That chat with Marc Fennell about his three-part investigation into the Manosphere is coming up in the second half of this episode. But first, it's time for the headlines with Chris Spyrou on Friday the 16th of October.

Chris Spyrou (0:56)

Morning, Sacha. After more than a week of global discourse, including here in Australia, Donald Trump has called off the live stream of the execution of a US prisoner. Nidal Malik Hassan will die by firing squad on December 3, found guilty of murdering 13 people at a military base in Texas back in 2009

Trump's secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, announced last week the event would be made a public event and live streamed, making it the first ever US execution to be publicly broadcast.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (1:25)

But after bipartisan backlash, including from multiple Republicans, the president has announced on Truth Social overnight that it will not be streamed, saying allowing people to watch Hassan's death by firing squad could have been a good deterrent, but, quote, many very good and well-meaning people would rather not watch him die through streaming or through any other visual device. He will die as scheduled by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed. A Pentagon statement says Trump and Hegseth have discussed the decision and they are, quote, completely aligned on the matter.

Chris Spyrou (1:57)

The discourse around live streaming the execution reached Australia with the government pressured to force social media companies not to share it on their platforms. Politicians from the Liberal Party, the Greens and One Nation all expressed opposition to the execution being live streamed online. The Safety Commission, though, said while it could order a takedown of the content if it was posted, it couldn't proactively stop sites like Facebook and Instagram from publishing it.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (2:23)

The Greens have ordered an independent investigation into allegations made against WA Senator Jordan Steele-John that he made multiple inappropriate comments to women. New leader David Shoebridge has confirmed he received a letter on Tuesday night signed by seven Greens members detailing the allegations against Steele-John that spanned from 2017 to 2025

In a press conference, Shoebridge confirmed the matter had been sent to the WA Greens for a thorough investigation.

SPEAKER_4 (2:50)

Multiple Greens staffers, and indeed this is in the letter that you received, have told me that his hit name is Steele-John Mears. What's your response to that? Is there an innocent explanation for that? Well, I come back to the need for a fair and an independent and timely process that cannot be run by party room colleagues and should not be run by party room colleagues. The WA Greens have committed to working to commission an independent, fair and timely process.

Chris Spyrou (3:20)

Steele-John has taken leave from the party room but has expressed his innocence and says he was the one abused by one of his accusers who he claims was a former partner and that he's been speaking with WA police on the matter. The party's disability spokesperson in a statement said, quote, I utterly reject this characterisation of me, which tries to assert I am someone I am not. These claims are made without specifics. Any allegation of this nature is extremely serious and must be treated accordingly. If someone has made an allegation, I'm prepared to address it.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (3:49)

It's not clear how long the investigation will take or whether its findings will be made public. Schubert has also stressed the importance of the inquiry being independent, saying he will not be imposing any controls or rules on how it's carried out.

Chris Spyrou (4:04)

Wide ranging changes to social media could kick in for Aussie users very soon with the government's digital duty of care bill introduced to parliament. A reminder, these are the reforms that would make the tech companies legally responsible for keeping the people who use their platforms safe. That means protecting under-18s from things like porn, bullying and content that encourages eating disorders or violence against women, while also giving Aussie users the option to opt out of the algorithm and only see posts from accounts they follow. The laws don't just apply to social media though, they also apply to games, apps and AI chatbots, and companies that break the rules could be fined up to $109 million.