Australia’s plan to let users opt out of social media algorithms

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September 10, 2026 e-Paper

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September 10, 2026 e-Paper

Updated – September 10, 2026 04:52 pm IST

The story so far: Australia has announced a plan to offer social media users greater control over their feed by providing them a choice to opt out of algorithm-driven feed. Part of the country’s push for greater online safety norms, the plan ensures that Australian users have more choice on what they see online. The draft legislation for the Digital Duty of Care was released on Tuesday (September 8, 2026) for targeted consultation.

The Australian government has said that the new laws will place the burden on social media companies to provide a safe online experience for users.

“The digital duty of care will ensure online service providers – including some of the most powerful companies in the world – step up and do more to keep Australians safe from harm on their platforms,” said Australian Minister for Communications Anika Wells.

These laws will include the “My Feed, My Way” initiative, which will allow users to make decisions about their algorithms. Users can choose between their default feed, which includes personalised content, and a feed without the algorithm-prescribed content, and see posts of friends and creators they choose to follow. Tech firms will also have to send pop-up messages to both new and existing users offering them the choice over their feed.

Apart from this, it also wants to empower eSafety, a government agency responsible for the regulation of online safety, to send removal notices to apps and websites.

Further, social media firms, AI chatbots, and gaming platforms will be required to protect users under the age of 18 from features that cause a negative behavioural impact, including addictive features. They will also have to protect them from harmful content, including content that promotes eating disorders, and hostile ideas about women and gender equality; glorification of crime or life endangering stunts; content that causes serious mental health distress; and pornography.

These firms have to document and identify measures taken to address identified risks of harm to users. Non-compliance with these rules may attract fines to the tune of $79 million (₹750 crore).

The exact nature of the changes and what they will look like will only be known once Australia finishes consultations and introduces the legislation in Parliament. The government is seeking feedback from digital platforms, industry bodies, civil society organisations and advocates on the draft laws

Algorithms are a set of rules and calculations that determine what you will see online. Basically, they use data based on your previous likes, comments, posts, and various other things to determine what posts you are served. Social media firms use these algorithms to increase traffic to their platforms.

Researchers and experts have accused these firms of building in features that encourage “doomscrolling”, which in turn leads to addiction. Recently, Meta – which is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram – reached a $16.68 billion settlement to resolve claims brought by U.S. states that the company designed its platforms to addict children.

While none of the Big Tech firms have directly commented on the legislation, The Guardian reported that DIGI, the lobby group representing tech companies including Meta, Snapchat, and Google, defended algorithms as helpful to users seeking diverse content.

“We support an approach that gives people meaningful choice and control over the content they see, while managing safety risks,” a DIGI spokesperson reportedly said.

Meanwhile, some members of the Opposition parties in Australia have expressed reservations and have flagged risks of censorship.

However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said, “This is not about giving government control, it is about giving people control.”

The European Union, which introduced the Digital Services Act in 2022, has a similar provision for users to opt out of personalised content on social media. However, it has been reported that the firms have not made it easy for users to change their settings.

In 2025, a rights group in the Netherlands took Meta to court for violating the DSA and not offering users a feed that is not based on profiling. The court ordered Meta to modify the platforms to comply and offer users simpler feed.

Published – September 10, 2026 04:50 pm IST

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Fonte: The Hindu – International