Australia: Regime targets social media algorithms with new user-choice rules

Source: Reuters

“Australia on Tuesday proposed giving social media users the option to select the content they see on their feeds, marking the next step in the government’s ​push to improve online safety, following its world-first social media ban for children. Under ‌draft laws proposed by the centre-left Labor government, social media platforms will be required to notify users and offer them a choice over their default feed. Users can choose to opt in to having their default feed ​include personalised content recommended by an algorithm. Alternatively, they can opt out of algorithmically ​recommended content and instead see posts only from the friends and creators they ⁠choose to follow.” [editor’s note: If users want that and are willing to pay for it in some way, they’ll get it without government requirements – TLK] (09/08/26)

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/australia-targets-social-media-algorithms-with-new-user-choice-rules-2026-09-08/