U.S. warns Australia’s draft social-media rules risk censorship

The U.S. government has warned that Australia’s proposed social-media duty-of-care rules could enable viewpoint-based censorship, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the plan is intended to give users more control over their feeds. The draft legislation has not been enacted, and its final provisions remain unsettled. In a submission to Australia’s consultation, the U.S. government questioned how the rules would define online harm and how they would be enforced. It said broadly worded safety standards could lead platforms to suppress protected speech or reduce the reach of independent journalists and other speakers whose material touches on sensitive issues. Those outcomes were presented as risks, not as effects that have already occurred. The submission also objected to possible requirements governing platform design, including chronological feeds and opt-in recommendation systems. It argued that mandates affecting algorithms could influence what users see beyond Australia and asked the Australian government to clarify how harm would be assessed and ensure that definitions did not encroach on protected speech. The U.S.