Overview
- The government will this week release an exposure draft of a “digital duty of care” that would force social media firms to give Australians a clear, easy choice to disable recommender algorithms via pop-up prompts.
- The proposal would place legal obligations on platforms to identify and mitigate harms, expand the eSafety regulator’s investigatory powers to monitor compliance, and create penalties around A$100 million for serious breaches.
- For people under 18 the draft would name additional forms of “psycho‑social harm,” including body‑image and bullying content, and require platforms to limit minors’ exposure to those categories.
- The Opposition has voiced strong scepticism that the rules could amount to censorship while the Greens want tougher defaults that require users to opt in to algorithmic feeds and revenue‑linked penalties.
- Experts warn the law’s impact will hinge on technical and enforcement details not yet released, including which recommender systems are covered, what non‑algorithmic feeds would show, and how eSafety and accredited researchers will test compliance.