Australia fines platforms $109.2 million for ignoring the feed opt-out

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Australia unveiled draft legislation on Tuesday that would enable users to turn off content-ranking algorithms on social media.

Platforms that contravene the new Digital Duty of Care could be fined up to $109.2 million.

“My Feed, My Way” gives the users the option to choose

The primary focus for users is an initiative the government has dubbed “My Feed, My Way.”

Under the draft, platforms will have to ask new and existing users to select how their default feed functions, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office said.

If a user opts for the personalized option, the algorithm will continue to serve recommended content. If they say no, the feed will only show posts from the accounts the user follows.

Recurring pop-up messages afford users a choice. There is an option for an algorithmic feed, or only posts from people that users follow.

Ranking systems use browsing behavior, demographics, and location data.

“This is not about giving government control, it is about giving people control,” said Albanese in the release.

Communications Minister Anika Wells said people over the age of 16 could “easily” opt in or out, and platforms must respect a user’s choice.

The release said companies that don’t meet the duty of care could be fined up to $109.2 million, with the independent eSafety Commissioner supervising compliance. Wells said the obligations would land on “some of the most powerful companies in the world.”

That puts firms like Meta and Google, Alphabet’s owner, squarely in scope. Both are already under the microscope in Australia from the country’s separate ban on under-16s using social media.

Meta cut off access for more than 500,000 Australian teenagers. It purged 330,000 Instagram accounts, 173,000 on Facebook, and 39,000 on Threads, while publicly contending the policy would push vulnerable users onto less regulated apps.

eSafety gains power to order ‘nudify’ app takedowns

The PM’s release says online games, apps, and AI chatbots would need to protect under-18s from design features the government considers harmful, such as addictive mechanics or features that erode a young person’s self-esteem.

Platforms would also have to exclude minors from a series of categories of harmful content. The release includes pornography, bullying, and abuse that causes serious mental distress, material hostile to women and gender equality, posts that promote eating disorders, and content that glorifies crime or dangerous stunts.

The draft also gives the eSafety Commissioner new enforcement tools. The office would be authorized to order takedown of “nudify” apps and websites, and the current child cyberbullying and adult cyber-abuse complaint schemes would be streamlined so regulators can act more quickly.

“Just as we have basic safety standards for cars, toys or food, the duty of care applies basic standards for the online products we use every day,” Wells said.

The government says it will put the bill before Parliament before the end of the year.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said he was “deeply sceptical” and was concerned the measure could amount to censorship but said the Coalition had not yet seen the text. Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson says algorithms are based on what people already want.

The Greens call for more government action. Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has floated the idea of users having to opt into an algorithmic feed, rather than just having the ability to switch it off.

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