Needle In The Hashtag - eSafety Hackathon

16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Hackathon: “Needle in the Hashtag”

Where: Stone & Chalk, 121 King St Melbourne CBD

When: Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th November

Spots: ~Limited

16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Hackathon: “Needle in the Hashtag”

At this hackathon we have 2 challenges for you:

Mini-Challenge:

We’ve built a fake social media platform with a bunch of AIs posting and commenting and chatting with each other. Your task is to classify, from the millions of messages, who is who. Which AI persona looks to have body dysmorphia? Which is using incel language? Who’s posting like a LinkedIn Lunatic?

Grand-challenge:

interview the mentors, chat with the eSafety team and researchers from unimelb to understand deeply the issues we’re facing keeping people safe online. Then design and hack together a demo with your team. Pitch your solution to win big prizes!

No tech background? No worries.

No team? No worries.

Never used a computer before? We’ll make it work.

We have mentors, fun team formation events, tech support, sample challenges and pitching masters to teach you everything you need to know to emerge the grand champions!

________________________________

Why join

Do good, for real: Stand with the UN’s 16 Days of Activism and help make online spaces kinder and safer.

Safe playground: Explore a fully fake platform so you can test freely, without risking anyone’s privacy.

Learn by doing: We’ll guide you step-by-step. No code required (unless you want to!).

Show your work: Pitch to judges who care about useful, people-first ideas.

________________________________

Who should attend

Builders: yes, devs and data folks - bring your laptops!

Designers & product people: UX, content, research - your superpower is clarity.

Community & care pros: teachers, youth workers, psychologists, moderators, lived-experience voices.

Students & first-timers: total beginners welcome - we’ll pair you with a team and give you starter kits. You might even get an internship or job at an AI startup!

________________________________

What you get

Practice space: Curated, make-believe data and simple tools to try ideas safely.

Support crew: Mentors from safety, policy, community, tech, AI and lived-experience backgrounds.

Goodies: Access to useful tools/credits to build your project.

Spotlight: Prizes and post-event showcases for standout teams

Ready?

Tickets are limited. Bring a team or join one at the team formation evening.

Come curious. Leave proud - with something that makes feeds safer.

Connect with the MLAI Team: Xavier Andueza, Michael Reitzenstein, Lukas Wesemann, Pegah Khalegi, Ethan Lee, Jasmine Raj, Dr Sam Donegan (SupportSorted),