Setting up a new social media profile as a young man in Australia means you'll likely run into violent, misogynistic content in under 25 minutes. It isn't a glitch; it's how recommendation engines keep users hooked. The Australian government is now taking aim at the heart of this problem by considering optional recommendation systems and pushing to outlaw online porn that depicts choking.
Federal Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek signaled that policymakers are done treating algorithmic feeds as a given. Between a planned Digital Duty of Care bill and pending privacy reforms, Canberra is laying out an aggressive path to rein in tech giants that profit off rage and risk.
The Push for Choice in Your Feed
Recommender algorithms are the engine behind modern platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. They track user interactions to constantly serve up content designed to maximize watch time. For young demographic groups, that dynamic often descends into a spiral of extreme content.
Under proposals championed by consent advocates like Chanel Contos, Australia could force tech giants to make these recommender algorithms strictly opt-in.
- Opt-in feeds: You'd only see content from accounts you actively choose to follow unless you deliberately switch on algorithmic recommendations.
- Reverse-chronological timelines: Feeds would default to simple, time-based streams rather than engagement-optimized feeds.
- Data tracking limits: Switching off the algorithm would block platforms from building detailed behavioural profiles to target you.
When platforms prioritize total watch time, raw outrage and shock value win every time. Giving users full control over whether those automated systems run in the background removes the financial incentive for tech companies to serve up dangerous material.
Outlawing Depictions of Sexual Violence
The push for tighter digital controls follows real-world harms. Following the tragic death of a 16-year-old girl in Sydney during a sexual act involving asphyxiation, Australian lawmakers are under heavy pressure to copy recent UK legislation that banned pornographic depictions of strangulation and suffocation.
Data collected by the Breathless campaign indicates that 57 percent of young Australians report being strangled by a partner during sex, while 61 percent of young women report experiencing it.
Online pornography has normalized high-risk behaviors without showing any of the real medical dangers, including severe brain injury or death.
The United Kingdom made a move by outright banning adult websites from distributing videos showing suffocation or choking. Australia's proposed match would expand eSafety powers to treat this material as high-tier illegal content, forcing adult sites to remove it or face massive financial penalties and site-wide domain blocks.
Moving Beyond Simple Age Bans
Australia made global headlines by enacting a blanket ban on social media accounts for kids under 16. However, government officials have acknowledged that kids quickly find workarounds using alternative apps, VPNs, or fake ages.
Banning kids from platforms addresses who accesses the site, but it ignores what the platform actually does to its users. Shifted focus toward algorithmic transparency and content restrictions tackles the structural design of the internet itself.
The upcoming Digital Duty of Care legislation will legally obligate tech platforms to prove their products are safe before rolling them out. That burden of proof includes evaluating hardware risks—such as smart glasses capable of covertly filming people without consent—and updating privacy laws to combat extortion.
What You Can Do Right Now
While lawmakers draft legislation, you don't have to wait on parliament to secure your own online space or protect your family's digital feeds.
- Turn off algorithmic recommendations where available: Check your privacy settings on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram to clear your watch history, pause personalized feeds, or switch your home feed to "Following" rather than "For You."
- Talk to teens early about online norms: Be explicit about how algorithms push extreme content to hold attention, and talk openly about the physical dangers of behaviors popularized in adult videos.
- Use privacy-focused browsers and tools: Block tracking scripts using privacy extensions or dedicated browsers to stop algorithms from harvesting the engagement signals used to build targeted feeds.
