Australia Unveils Draft ‘Digital Duty of Care’ Bill Mandating Algorithm Opt-Out and A$109m Fines

Governments have tried to tame new media before—think the U.S. 1934 Communications Act’s “public interest” mandate for radio or the 1998 COPPA rules for children’s data—but rarely have they targeted the underlying recommendation engine itself. Australia’s proposal echoes the 1932 Donoghue v Stevenson case that birthed modern ‘duty of care’, transplanting it into the algorithmic age. It taps into a wider post-2016 backlash against engagement-driven feeds (EU Digital Services Act 2024, UK Online Safety Act 2025) and the country’s own under-16 social-media ban of Dec 2025. Whether the bill passes intact or survives industry lawfare, it signals a long arc toward treating digital platforms as regulated utilities rather than neutral conduits—a shift that, on a century timeline, could prove as consequential as the early 20th-century safety standards that turned automobiles from death traps into mass transport. Or it may fade like the U.S. Fairness Doctrine (scrapped 1987) if enforcement proves impossible. Either way, the move shows middle-power democracies, not just the US-EU duopoly, are now writing the rules of the algorithmic era.