Australia may give users a legal right to switch off social media algorithms

Australia’s government has said it may pass a law that lets people switch off algorithmic recommendations on social media. An algorithm here means the software that decides which posts you see. Speaking on the ABC program Insiders on Sunday, Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said the government was “absolutely up for work on algorithms”. She said two options were being looked at: users could choose to switch the recommended feed on, or choose to switch it off. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said much the same on Monday.

The reason is a debate about violence, not about time spent on screens. Ministers spoke after the death of a sixteen-year-old girl in New South Wales, which reports link to sexual choking. Plibersek pointed to research suggesting that a teenage boy’s account is shown violent material that degrades women within an average of twenty-three minutes. The government is also preparing a digital duty of care bill, which would require platforms to stop harm before it happens. Ministers are considering a ban on pornography showing strangulation as well, similar to one in the United Kingdom.

A bill that could carry the idea already exists. In April, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young put forward a private bill called “Fix Our Feeds”, which would make platforms offer a feed without an algorithm. Australia stopped under-sixteens from having social media accounts in December 2025. It has since changed its rules so that recommendation systems, endless scrolling and disappearing stories count when deciding whether a service is limited by age, as BuzzInContent reports.

Australia’s teen ban was copied by other governments in months

Australia was the first country to pass a teen ban, and other governments copied it within months. A compulsory opt-out could serve as a model in the same way. It would also be the first large test of what happens to usage, ad delivery and creator reach when many users move to a feed ordered by time, or one limited to accounts they follow. Meta already lets users in the European Union step away from personalised feeds, but almost nobody does. Part of the reason is that it comes bundled with a paid subscription. A free switch, required by law and easy to find, is a different matter.

There are two risks for marketers. Reach that a brand does not pay for on Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts comes almost entirely from recommendations. If people opt out, brands would have to win those viewers back through follows, search or paid ads. The second risk is the political framing. Treating algorithms as a danger to public health is unlikely to stay in Australia.

Australia’s duty of care bill is expected later this year

No model has been chosen yet. The government says its first step is a new advisory council on domestic and sexual violence, which meets this week. The duty of care bill is expected later this year. The algorithm rules could be added to that bill or to the Greens bill. The platforms have not commented publicly on the proposal.