Australia's Algorithm Choice Law: What Real User Control Over Social Media Actually Looks Like
Australia is requiring social media platforms to let users opt out of algorithmic feeds. It's a radical shift toward genuine user control, and a model the US should study.
By Common Good Policy Team · September 9, 2026 · Responding to NPR (September 8, 2026)
Australia just did something the US hasn't: it told social media companies that users get to choose whether algorithms control what they see.
Under proposed Digital Duty of Care legislation announced this week, platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok would be required to send notifications to users offering a real choice: either accept an algorithmic feed tailored to keep you scrolling, or opt for a chronological feed of content from people and creators you actually follow. No dark patterns. No hidden defaults. Just choice.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese framed it plainly: "We'll require social media platforms to provide user empowerment tools that give people over the age of 16 genuine and enduring choice about what they see in their feeds." Penalties for noncompliance reach 109.2 million Australian dollars, roughly $78.6 million USD.
Why This Matters
The algorithmic feed isn't accidental design. It's the engine. Platforms use algorithms to maximize engagement, which means maximizing outrage, division, and addiction. The more time you spend, the more ads they sell. Your attention is the product.
This isn't theoretical. The platforms know their algorithms amplify divisive content. Internal Facebook documents revealed that Instagram's algorithm actively promotes content that makes users feel bad about their bodies. TikTok's algorithm has been documented promoting eating disorder content to vulnerable teenagers. YouTube's recommendation system has been shown to radicalize users by pushing them toward increasingly extreme content.
The US regulatory response? Mostly theater. We've held congressional hearings. We've written angry letters. We've watched the platforms apologize and do nothing. Meanwhile, teen mental health has collapsed. Trust in institutions has eroded. Democracy itself has gotten harder to conduct in a space where algorithms reward lies more than truth.
Australia's approach is different. It says: you built this system to exploit human psychology. Now give people a way out.
The Bigger Picture
This law also requires platforms to protect children from content promoting eating disorders, self-harm, and other serious harms. And it follows Australia's December 2024 ban on social media accounts for children under 16, the world's first.
The US has spent years debating whether to regulate social media. We've drafted bills. We've let them die in committee. Meanwhile, the platforms have gotten bigger, the algorithms more sophisticated, and the harms more documented.