Australia Moves to Give Users Choice to Turn Off Social Media Algorithms

New laws in Australia could let you stop apps like Instagram from choosing what you see, but big tech companies are fighting back.

Australia is working on new laws that could change how we use social media. If these rules pass, apps would have to give users a way to turn off their 'algorithms.' An algorithm is a computer program that looks at what you like and then picks the posts it thinks you will look at most. These apps do this to keep you scrolling for as long as possible. Many critics argue this can be harmful, especially for young people. Adam Mosseri, who runs Instagram, recently said that a simple list of posts in the order they were shared—called a chronological feed—is 'much worse' for users. He thinks the …