Australian social media users to be offered choice to opt out of algorithms

Read the original at NPR ↗
Cite

The Associated Press. (2026, September 8). Australian social media users to be offered choice to opt out of algorithms. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2026/09/08/g-s1-142311/australian-social-media-users-to-be-offered-choice-to-opt-out-of-algorithms

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

NPR · collected 2026-09-08 · by The Associated Press

Quick Summary

The Australian government has proposed new laws that would allow social media users aged 16 and over to opt out of algorithms that personalize their feeds. According to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the legislation would provide "genuine and enduring choice" for users, who could choose to see only content from friends and creators they follow rather than algorithm-recommended posts. The proposed Digital Duty of Care legislation also aims to protect children by banning content that promotes eating disorders or mental health distress, among other categories. If companies fail to comply with the new laws, they could face penalties up to 109.2 million Australian dollars.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-08, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

The Australian government is introducing new legislation that will give users the option to opt out of algorithms on social media platforms. Under the proposed Digital Duty of Care bill, companies such as Facebook and Instagram would be required to provide a pop-up message offering users the choice to turn off algorithms and see only content from friends and people they follow. If companies fail to comply, they could face fines of up to $109 million. The government aims to protect children under 18 from online harms, including eating disorders, bullying, and misogynistic or glorifying crime. This move follows Australia's world-first laws introduced in December last year that banned children younger than 16 from holding accounts on social media platforms.

Written for “Social Media Algorithm Crackdown” on 2026-10-23, grounded in this article and the 8 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Social Media Algorithm Crackdown
Politics · 9 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 15% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Australia unveils landmark Bill to let social media users opt out of algorithm same event · 100%
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⚖️ Leans right 🔴 18% hedged 6 of 33 📰 publisher trust 68
“Both articles report on the exact same announcement by the Australian government, with the same details and timing, on September 8th, 2026.”
Australia’s proposed ‘opt out’ law targets Big Tech algorithms same event · 100%
Al Jazeera · 0.90 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 15% hedged 2 of 13 📰 publisher trust 60
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Australia’s plan to let users opt out of social media algorithms | Explained same event · 100%
The Hindu · 0.86 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 11% hedged 3 of 28 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the same proposed legislation announced by the Australian government on September 8, 2026, which aims to give social media users a choice to opt out of algorithms.”
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“Both articles describe the same government plan to introduce draft legislation creating a digital duty of care for social media users, with a focus on giving users control over social media algorithms.”
Australians could opt out of social media algorithms under proposed law same event · 100%
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“Both articles report on the exact same proposal by the Australian government to require social media platforms to give users an option to opt out of algorithms, with quotes from relevant officials.”
Australians will be able to switch off social media algorithms under planned legislation same event · 100%
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⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 5% hedged 1 of 20 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles report on the same planned legislation being proposed by the Australian government, allowing social media users to opt out of algorithms.”
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The Markup
⚖️ Leans strongly left 🔴 26% hedged 15 of 58 📰 publisher trust 94
“Article A discusses a researcher's statement about Instagram causing Reward Deficit Disorder, while Article B announces government-proposed laws to give users choice over algorithms in Australia”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
13
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
15%
2 of 13 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
60/100
NPR's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
9
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-08 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

The Associated Press
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Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by The Associated Press
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 1461 articles by The Associated Press →

Topics

Australia Australian CANBERRA Facebook Instagram

Subjects

Australia GPE · 3× Australian NORP · 3× CANBERRA GPE · 2× Facebook ORG · 2× Instagram ORG · 2× TikTok ORG · 2× Albanese PERSON · 1× Anthony Albanese PERSON · 1× Snapchat ORG · 1× YouTube ORG · 1×

Narrative

The move for more user control and to keep children safer online follows Australia introducing world-first laws in December last year that ban children younger than 16 from holding accounts on the world's largest social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-08
🔮 Australian social media users would be given a choice to opt out of algorithms under proposed laws announced by the government Tuesday that would let users have more control over what they see on their social media feeds.
2026-09-08 · NPR
Australian social media users to be offered choice to opt out of algorithms · assertive framing

Claims (13 extracted, 2 hedged)

Australian social media users to be offered choice to opt out of algorithms CANBERRA, Australia — asserted
users → offer → algorithms
Australian social media users would be given a choice to opt out of algorithms under proposed laws announced by the government Tuesday that would let users have more control over what they see on their social media feeds. asserted
they → give → feeds
"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," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Canberra. asserted
Albanese → require → Canberra
The proposed legislation would also protect children from content that promotes eating disorders, hostile ideas about women, pornography, crime, dangerous stunts and that causes serious mental health distress. asserted
that → propose → distress
The move for more user control and to keep children safer online follows Australia introducing world-first laws in December last year that ban children younger than 16 from holding accounts on the world's largest social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. asserted
that → keep → Instagram
"It gives users choice and it will hold the big tech companies responsible for inaction. asserted
companies → give → inaction
If they don't follow our laws, they will face significant penalties," Albanese added. asserted
Albanese → follow → penalties
Penalties under the proposed Digital Duty of Care legislation could be as high as 109.2 million Australian dollars ($78.6 million). uncertain
Penalties → propose → dollars
Social media platforms would be required to send a notification to new and existing users offering them a choice over their default feed, a government statement said. asserted
statement → require → feed
Users would be able to opt in to having their default feed include personalized content recommended by an algorithm. asserted
feed → opt → algorithm
Alternatively, users could see the content of friends and creators they choose to follow. uncertain
they → see → friends
Digital services including online games, apps and artificial intelligence chatbots would also be required to protect children from design features that have negative behavioral impacts such as addictive features and those that have an effect on self-esteem, the statement said. asserted
statement → include → esteem
In April, Australia's online safety watchdog said it was considering court action against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, alleging they are not doing enough to keep Australian children younger than 16 off their platforms. asserted
they → say → platforms
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