Australia Drafts Bill to Let Users Disable Social Media Algorithms
Australia MovesDrafts Bill to Let Users SwitchDisable Off Social Media Algorithms
The Spin
Handing people an off switch for recommender feeds is a long-overdue win, because platforms built to maximize scrolling should not get to decide what billions of people see. 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.
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 the abandoned misinformation laws through the back door and invites over-compliance and surveillance. Trading the algorithm for government-setdefined settings is no freedom at all.
Metaculus Prediction
There is a 10% chance that the Coalition will win the next Australian federal election (in 2028), according to the Metaculus prediction community.
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