Australia Drafts Bill to Let Users Disable Social Media Algorithms

Is this a move for genuine user control or censorship disguised as progressive policy?

Published 1 day ago

Australia Drafts Bill to Let Users Disable Social Media Algorithms

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Above: A teenager looks into a smartphone screen in England on July 1. Image credit: Anna Barclay/Getty Images

The Spin

Left narrative

Handing people an off switch for recommender feeds is a long-overdue win. Putting the onus on companies to test and manage foreseeable harms before rolling out features, with fines topping $100 million, finally treats these products like the risky businesses they are. Genuine user control beats deleting social media altogether.

Peace Maker on X Law Society Journal

Right narrative

A digital duty of care built on a vague, ever-expanding notion of "serious harms" is just a censorship machine, and it covers the entire internet — messaging apps, AI tools, app stores and all. Handing an unaccountable eSafety Commissioner discretion to invent new harms revives abandoned misinformation laws through the back door and invites over-compliance and surveillance. Trading the algorithm for government-defined settings is no freedom at all.

Senator Matt Canavan on X IPA