Australia wants a pop-up that lets you kill the feed algorithm
Published on HivePostify by @vixmemon · Sun Sep 06 2026
Labor is putting an exposure draft of a Digital Duty of Care in front of parliament this week. The part people will actually see is a pop-up. Platforms would have to ask, regularly, whether you want the recommendation engine or a chronological pile of accounts you already follow. Say no, and the feed is supposed to look more like 2014.
The rest is heavier. Companies would have to hunt for illegal stuff themselves, including illegal porn served to adults, and a short list of "psycho-social harms" for under-18s: body image, bullying, that kind of thing. The eSafety commissioner and registered researchers could run sock-puppet accounts posing as kids to see what the machine serves them. Breaches could cost more than $100 million. Anthony Albanese is expected to talk the plan up at the UN in New York later this month.
Angus Taylor is already calling it censorship, or at least saying he fears it will be, before the text is public. He also noted the under-16 social media ban has barely moved the needle, about a 4.4 percent drop. The Greens want the opposite default: opt-in, not opt-out, so the algorithm stays off until you tap yes. Pauline Hanson reached for Orwell. That is the Senate math. Labor will need the Greens if the Coalition walks.
I have mixed feelings about governments writing feed law, and I still want a switch. Most of us never asked for a ranking system trained on how long we linger on a fight. A pop-up is easy to dismiss. An opt-in default would be harder to ignore. Either way, the interesting fight is not "free speech" as a slogan. It is who sets the starting position of the toggle.
[ABC on the draft](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-06/opt-out-laws-social-media-algorithm-parliament-government/107121192) and [the Guardian on Taylor's scepticism](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/06/labor-plans-crackdown-on-social-media-algorithms-as-taylor-says-hes-deeply-sceptical).
Tags: #australia#socialmedia#regulation#algorithms#policy