Australia Moves to Give Users Control Over Social Media Algorithms

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo: Yu Chu Chin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.

Australia is proposing new online safety laws that would allow social media users to switch off algorithm-driven feeds and instead see content only from people and groups they have chosen to follow.

The proposed Digital Duty of Care would also introduce new requirements for online services used by children, including social media, games, apps and AI chatbots, with platforms expected to take greater responsibility for harmful content and design features.

For schools, the proposal is another sign that digital wellbeing policy is shifting beyond screen time and student behaviour towards the design of the platforms themselves.

Read the full report in The Guardian.