Australian PM announces opt-out laws for social media algorithms
Canberra, Sep 8 (IANS/GURPUNEET SIDHU) Australians will be able to opt out of content algorithms on social media platforms under proposed laws, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Tuesday.
Albanese told reporters at Parliament House that the digital duty of care laws would require social media platforms to give users the choice to opt out of algorithms and only see content from accounts that they follow.
Additionally, Albanese and Australia’s Communications Minister Anika Wells said the proposed laws would require platforms to protect users younger than 18 from harmful content, including content that promotes eating disorders, misogynistic content and content that glorifies crime, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Platforms found to breach the new regulations will face fines worth up to 100 million Australian dollars (about 72.1 million US dollars).
“It’s about giving people control. It’s about putting choice back into the hands of Australians online,” Albanese said.
Wells described the new laws as the next step forward in requiring technology companies to take responsibility for the harms caused by their platforms.
“For too long, tech companies have been running real-time unregulated product testing on Australians, and their platforms and tools have infiltrated our daily lives in ways we could have never imagined,” she said.
“There is a global reckoning coming for big tech.”
Wells said, “When it comes to social media, Australians over the age of 16 will be able to opt in or opt out of the algorithm easily. The duty of care will require platforms to give users over 16 choice on what feed they see when they open the app – and to respect that choice.”
“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,” she added.
It comes after Albanese’s Labor Party government in 2024 legislated a world-first social media ban for children younger than 16, which came into effect in December 2025.
Albanese and Wells said in June that the government would double the maximum fine for breaches of the minimum age law to 99 million Australian dollars.
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