Australia is taking aim at the heart of social media. Under its proposed “My Feed, My Way” law, users could switch off algorithmic recommendations and see only the people they actually chose to follow. The next global battle with Big Tech may be over who controls your feed — you or the algorithm.
CANBERRA — Australia is preparing another major challenge to Big Tech, proposing legislation that would allow social media users to reject personalized recommendation algorithms and instead see content only from accounts they choose to follow.
Under the government’s “My Feed, My Way” proposal, platforms would have to notify users about their feed settings and provide a clear choice between algorithmically recommended content and a non-personalized feed based on followed accounts.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese framed the policy as one of consumer control rather than government control.
The proposal follows Australia’s world-first restrictions preventing under-16s from maintaining accounts on designated social media platforms, which took effect in December 2025.
The Algorithm Is Becoming the Target
For years, governments concentrated on regulating illegal or harmful content.
Australia is moving further upstream.
Its new approach asks whether the design of the platform itself can create harm.
Recommendation algorithms determine which videos, political messages, advertisements and controversies repeatedly appear before users. Their commercial purpose is often simple: keep people scrolling, watching and engaging.
Australia now wants users over 16 to have the ability to say no.
That is potentially significant because an algorithm-free option could weaken one of social media’s most powerful mechanisms: repeatedly pushing content people never actively requested.
Big Tech Could Face Heavy Penalties
The broader draft Digital Duty of Care would require technology companies to identify online risks, document measures taken to reduce them and show that those protections remain effective.
Failure to comply could bring penalties of up to A$109.2 million, with Australia’s eSafety Commissioner responsible for enforcement.
The legislation would also strengthen protections for minors across apps, gaming platforms and AI chatbots and expand authorities dealing with seriously harmful and illegal material.
The bill remains in consultation and has not yet become law. The government says it intends to introduce legislation to Parliament later in 2026.
WARYATV Assessment
The importance of “My Feed, My Way” is larger than Australia.
For years, social-media companies have treated recommendation systems as proprietary technology central to their products.
Governments increasingly see them differently:
as systems capable of shaping behavior, amplifying extremism, encouraging compulsive use and influencing what entire societies see.
The European Union has already required major platforms to offer non-profiled alternatives under its Digital Services Act. Australia is now pushing the principle further into mainstream online-safety regulation.
There are legitimate concerns about regulatory overreach, particularly where governments gain broader powers to determine what constitutes harmful material.
But the feed-choice provision itself represents something different.
It transfers a degree of power from the algorithm back to the individual.
WARYATV Bottom Line
Australia banned social media accounts for children under 16.
Now it is targeting the machinery that determines what older users see.
If the proposal becomes law and proves workable, other governments may follow.
That could mark an important shift in global technology regulation:
The debate is moving from “What content should platforms remove?” to “Why should an algorithm decide what billions of people see in the first place?”
