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The 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”.<\/b><\/p>\n
Under Australia’s draft digital duty of care laws, tech firms risk hefty fines if they fail to give users the option to turn off algorithms in a bid to protect them from harmful content.<\/p>\n
In a rare submission to the proposed laws, the US embassy in Canberra said it had “serious concerns” and allowing the government to “enforce vague definitions of ‘harm'” would lead to “viewpoint-based censorship”.<\/p>\n
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the legislation was not about giving governments control but giving it back to individuals.<\/p>\n
“We ask that Australia clarify how exactly ‘harm’ and ‘risks’ shall be determined… ensuring these definitions do not encroach on protected speech,” the US said in its submission.<\/p>\n
The US also claimed that the proposed laws<\/a> may risk “reducing the reach of independent journalists or other voices whose content touches on sensitive or controversial topics” if tech firms had to “pre-emptively demote” them. <\/p>\n An opt-out option would “allow regulators to impose rigid, one-size-fits-all platform design requirements” on tech firms and this could affect users outside of Australia, it said.<\/p>\n “Mandated platform design features, especially when applied to algorithms, may affect what users see, say, and hear not just in or from Australia, but globally.”<\/p>\n The US also called on Australia to address industry concerns that the “biases and preferences” of government officials do not “disadvantage independent or minority-viewpoint speech”.<\/p>\n Another worry was that the proposed laws could affect Australia’s “reputation as a jurisdiction that enables innovation,” the submission said.<\/p>\n The criticism comes during Albanese’s visit to the US to speak at the UN’s General Assembly about his government’s tech policies.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, local time in New York, Albanese responded to the criticism and claims of the proposed laws being government overreach.<\/p>\n “It’s not about giving government control,” he told the media in New York.<\/p>\n “It’s about giving people back control over what they receive on their devices.”<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump meanwhile used his speech at the UN<\/a> to play down fears about AI, rejecting proposals for guardrails on it and arguing it should be renamed “super intelligence” as “the use of the word artificial makes it sound fake”.<\/p>\n This latest move by Australia to protect its online users from harm comes less than a year after the country introduced a social media ban<\/a> for children under 16 last December.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n