US criticises Australia's proposed algorithm opt-out laws as 'censorship'
The United States has criticized Australia's proposed digital duty of care laws, arguing that mandatory algorithm opt-outs constitute censorship of protected speech. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended the legislation as a measure to return control to individuals rather than increase government oversight. The US submission warns that vague definitions of harm could lead to viewpoint-based restrictions and negatively impact Australia's reputation for innovation.
- ▪The US embassy in Canberra submitted concerns that the proposed laws would allow the government to enforce vague definitions of harm, leading to viewpoint-based censorship.
- ▪Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that the legislation is designed to give individuals control over their digital experiences rather than grant the government power.
- ▪The US warned that mandated platform design features could reduce the reach of independent journalists and affect users globally.
- ▪Australia introduced a social media ban for children under 16 in December, which precedes this new proposal for algorithm opt-outs.
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| Original publisher | BBC News — Tech |
| Canonical URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqj3dgy8x3vro?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss |
| Publication time | Wed, 23 Sep 2026 01:35:56 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-23T01:39:30.376Z |
| Last seen | 2026-09-23T01:39:30.376Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
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| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
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| Cluster | TfgcNwNiNmZB · 1 stories |
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| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
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US criticises Australia's proposed algorithm opt-out laws as 'censorship'<div class="ssrcss-1553su4-ErrorMessage eitf6465"><div class="ssrcss-h7lv7m-StyledInnerContainer eitf6464"><div class="ssrcss-nbxsk2-TextContent eitf6461"><h2 type="normal" class="ssrcss-89o2pv-Heading e10rt3ze0">To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.</h2><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">This video can not be played</p></div></div></div>Figure caption, "Good to have choice": Australians on opting-out of social media algorithmsByLana LamSydneyPublished3 minutes agoThe US has criticised Australia's proposal to give users the ability to opt out of social media algorithms, saying it amounts to "censorship of protected speech".Under Australia's draft digital duty of care laws, tech…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at BBC News — Tech.
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