r/austechnology • u/austechnology-bot • Sep 07 '26

Opt-out laws for social media algorithms to be introduced to parliament

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-06/opt-out-laws-social-media-algorithm-parliament-government/107121192
52 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

12

u/louisa1925 Sep 08 '26

Should be opt in only, but this is half a step forward and is better than some asshole filling your feed with ads to spread hatred, so very well then.

5

u/FigFew2001 Sep 08 '26

Agree, should be opt-in. But it’s better than nothing.

1

u/Toilet_King500 Sep 08 '26

I do wonder what the actual difference between the two would be on a larger scale in terms of how many people choose to go without

2

u/louisa1925 Sep 08 '26 edited Sep 08 '26

I bet most of the older folks won't care. It may be a good thing to stop young folks seeing adult ads while online doing some schoolwork or whatever.

I am right into holding onto whatever privacy I can, and am personally am 50/50 on the issue.

2

u/Toilet_King500 Sep 08 '26

Yeah i just suspect that alot of younger folks will just accept the algorithms anyways just for better feeds, would probably help alot people who dont use the internet mutch but probably are the people least effected

3

u/Schrojo18 Sep 09 '26

Everything is an algorithm. How do they expect this to actually work or be legislated?

1

u/WolvReigns222016 Sep 11 '26

Not everything is an algorithm. All it will do is make is so your feed is only from people you follow.

1

u/Schrojo18 Sep 11 '26

Most maths are algorithms

1

u/Find_another_whey Sep 13 '26

Choose people to appear in your feed

This used to be called a "friends list" 

Crazy idea 

1

u/Schrojo18 Sep 13 '26

still uses algorithms

3

u/agaloch2314 Sep 10 '26

This is a censorship bill wrapped in “think of the children” packaging. Don’t fall for it.

2

u/chiefexecutiveballer Sep 10 '26

How so?

3

u/agaloch2314 Sep 10 '26

https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/department/media/publications/exposure-draft-online-safety-amendment-digital-duty-care-bill-2026

The bill allows for the banning of (for adults, not minors):

"material or conduct that encourages, promotes, incites or provides instruction for the commission of a criminal offence;",

"material or conduct that encourages, promotes, urges or instructs illicit drug use;" and

"any other material or conduct, or combination of material and conduct ... that the Minister is satisfied may cause serious harm."

They can basically ban whatever the hell they want given how vague it is. This part is not opt-in or out, but straight up bans. THIS is the purpose of the bill.

There’s more too including pornography etc.

1

u/Infamous_Mammoth_473 Sep 12 '26

Can I opt out of celebrite data scraping now?

0

u/omgitsduane Sep 11 '26

Why are cookers saying this is censorship when it's literally opt out?

1

u/EmbarrassedHelp Sep 14 '26

The opt out part is a very small part the legislation. The rest of the text is focused on censorship.