One signal

Update

What changed

The US government has criticised Australia’s proposed digital duty-of-care rules, which would reportedly let social-media users opt out of algorithmic recommendations. That adds a concrete measure to the earlier dispute over Australia’s attempt to tighten oversight of harmful online content.

Bloomberg reports that the proposal would require platforms to offer an opt-out from algorithms, rather than simply asking them to police the material those systems recommend. The available account does not establish the bill’s full wording, implementation timetable or the US government’s specific objections.

The distinction matters. A rule aimed at content can target what platforms distribute, while an algorithm opt-out would give people a choice about how that material is selected and ranked. It also leaves the practical question sitting rather awkwardly on the table: what would users see instead, and how would platforms meet the duty in practice?

For now, this is a sharper policy signal rather than a finished regulatory blueprint. But the argument is moving beyond whether Big Tech should be regulated and towards who gets to decide the machinery shaping people’s feeds.

Sources and evidence

• The US criticizes Australia's digital duty-of-care proposal, which has a provision that would require social media platforms to let users opt out of algorithms (Angus Whitley/Bloom: Bloomberg reports that the US government criticised Australia’s proposed digital duty-of-care rules, including a provision that would require social-media platforms to let users opt out of algorithmic recommendations.

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