Australia’s federal government has released draft legislation that would force major social media platforms to give users the option to turn off algorithm-driven content recommendations, replacing personalized feeds with chronological ones on request. The proposal, unveiled this week in Canberra, builds on the country’s existing online safety enforcement structure and is expected to be introduced to Parliament before the end of the year.
Officials described the measure as part of a broader “digital duty of care” framework that would require platforms to design their services with user wellbeing in mind, rather than simply removing harmful content after the fact. The approach mirrors similar regulatory efforts already underway in the European Union and the United Kingdom.
What the Law Would Require
Under the draft bill, platforms with significant Australian user bases — expected to include Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube and Snapchat — would need to build an accessible, persistent opt-out control into their apps and websites. Users who activate it would see content sorted by recency from accounts they follow, rather than a feed shaped by engagement-optimized ranking systems.
The legislation would also require platforms to:
- Disclose in plain language how their recommendation systems select and prioritize content
- Provide the opt-out setting without requiring users to navigate multiple menus or accept default settings that quietly re-enable algorithmic sorting
- Report periodically to regulators on how many users choose to disable algorithmic recommendations
Enforcement would fall to Australia’s existing online safety regulator, which already holds authority to issue fines for noncompliance with transparency and reporting obligations under the country’s Online Safety Act. Penalties for platforms that fail to implement a functioning opt-out could reach tens of millions of Australian dollars, according to officials familiar with the drafting process.
The Case for the Bill
Supporters argue that algorithmic feeds are engineered to maximize time on platform, often by surfacing emotionally charged, controversial, or extreme content that keeps users scrolling. Australian regulators have pointed to internal industry research — some of it surfaced in litigation and whistleblower disclosures in other countries — suggesting that engagement-based ranking can amplify content linked to anxiety, body image concerns, and political polarization, particularly among teenagers.
“People should have a genuine choice in how they experience these platforms, not just a filtered version designed to hold their attention as long as possible,” a government spokesperson said in a statement accompanying the bill’s release.
The proposal also reflects growing global scrutiny of recommendation algorithms as a policy lever distinct from content moderation. Rather than targeting specific posts or accounts, regulators are increasingly focused on the underlying systems that decide what users see and in what order — an approach that avoids some of the free-speech objections raised by content-removal mandates.
Industry Pushback Expected
Technology companies are likely to argue that chronological feeds are technically difficult to implement at scale and could degrade user experience by surfacing spam, duplicate content, or posts from inactive accounts. Industry groups have previously warned that opt-out mandates in other jurisdictions risk fragmenting product design across markets and increasing compliance costs for smaller platforms trying to compete with dominant players.
Meta, TikTok and X did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Australian proposal. Past statements from the companies on similar EU transparency rules have emphasized that recommendation systems are also used to reduce spam and connect users with relevant safety information, not solely to maximize engagement.
The Australian bill follows the country’s high-profile move earlier this year to restrict social media access for users under 16, a policy that drew both domestic support and international attention as one of the most aggressive youth-protection measures adopted by a Western democracy. That earlier law focused on age verification and account restrictions; the new algorithm opt-out proposal extends the government’s regulatory ambitions to the design of the platforms themselves. Readers can find more background on the broader initiative in NarwhalTV’s earlier coverage of the digital duty of care push.
What Happens Next
The draft legislation is now open for a public consultation period, during which advocacy groups, platform operators, and academics will be able to submit feedback before a final version is introduced to Parliament. Government officials have indicated they hope to pass the bill within the current parliamentary term, though the timeline could shift depending on the volume and nature of submitted feedback.
If passed, Australia would become one of the first countries to legally mandate an algorithm opt-out as a standalone user right, rather than folding the requirement into broader data-privacy or competition law. Regulators in Canada and several EU member states are reportedly monitoring the Australian process as a potential template for their own legislative efforts.
For now, the proposal remains in draft form, and platforms have not indicated whether they would challenge the requirement in court, as some companies have done with other Australian digital regulations in recent years.
