OMM Newsroom
Australia has proposed requiring social media platforms to let users switch off recommended content, as part of wider legislation aimed at improving online safety. The bill was introduced to parliament this week, according to the BBC.
The proposed algorithm switch would allow people to see posts only from accounts they follow. The government says platforms must make the setting easy to find and use, and must not change a user’s choice without explicit permission.
The reforms follow concerns from Australians who say recommendation systems repeatedly exposed them to content they did not want to see, including material linked to eating disorders and misogynistic views.
Varsha Yajman, 24, says she encountered weight-loss videos and calorie challenges after joining social media at 13. Now recovering from anorexia, she says such content still appears in her feeds despite her use of safety settings and blocked-word lists.
Flynn Martin says recommendations helped draw him into online communities promoting misogynistic views when he was struggling with his mental health. He was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and left those communities after experiencing psychosis and being admitted to hospital.
Both say social media was not solely responsible for their difficulties, but played a significant role. Their experiences helped inform campaigner Chanel Contos’s “Fix Our Feeds” initiative, which called for recommendation algorithms to be turned off by default and users to choose whether to enable them. More than 15,000 people signed its petition.
Proposed duty of care for online services
The government announced a version of the proposal in September, but stopped short of requiring recommendation feeds to be switched off automatically. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the measure was intended to give users control over what they see.
The Digital Duty of Care bill would cover social media companies, gaming sites, chatbots and other online services. It would require them to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, a safe online environment. Services would have to protect children from harmful material and design features, including content that encourages eating disorders, while protections for adults would focus on a narrower range of seriously harmful material and conduct. Breaches could result in fines of up to A$100 million.
Communications Minister Anika Wells said the bill would shift responsibility from victims to technology companies that profit from Australian users. The government says adults would remain free to follow accounts, share opinions and post material.
Major companies including “Meta”, “Snap”, “TikTok”, “X” and “Google”, which owns “YouTube”, declined the BBC’s requests for comment. “Instagram” head Adam Mosseri has argued that non-algorithmic feeds could show users fewer posts from friends and said he did not consider his app addictive.
Questions over enforcement and usability
Critics, including right-wing Australian parties and the Trump administration, have warned that the proposal and broader bill could lead to excessive moderation and censorship. Supporters dispute that, while the proposal appears to have drawn less public controversy than Australia’s social media ban for children.
Enforcement remains a concern. Surveys suggest many children who used social media before the ban continue to do so, and no fines have been issued. The BBC also reported that the European Union’s introduction of algorithm controls in 2023 offers a cautionary example: platforms introduced feeds showing posts from followed accounts, but experts say the controls have often been difficult to use.
Researcher Chris Zomer of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child has argued that platforms can comply with laws in ways that make alternatives inconvenient, leaving users with algorithmic feeds. In “Instagram”, for example, users who switch to a following-only feed may lose access to direct messages, profiles and settings; the app also returns to an algorithmic feed when reopened.
The Australian government says its rules will require following-only feeds to remain fully functional, with settings that are obvious and do not change without the user’s explicit choice. Contos is seeking support for the campaign in other countries, including Canada and the UK.
Yajman remains unsure whether Australia can prevail against large technology companies, while Martin urges lawmakers to be realistic about the limits of a feed switch. Polling cited by the BBC found that two-thirds of Gen Z respondents would keep their social media algorithms, although nearly half of Australians overall said they would turn theirs off.
Yajman says she may not often use the option, but values having it available, particularly on difficult days.
