US warns Australia’s social media reforms ‘facilitating censorship’

The U.S. on Tuesday warned that Australia’s social media algorithm reform proposals to notify users and provide content recommended via a default algorithm could be “facilitating censorship.”

The U.S. Embassy in Canberra, Australia’s capital, stated in a formal submission that it had “serious concerns” about the Australian government’s goal with proposals “that dictate how platforms manage content and users’ feeds.”

“If Australia compels platforms to aggressively filter content in algorithmic feeds to satisfy a government mandate, and such filtering draws in protected speech, the effect on a disfavored speaker or media source’s reach would not be meaningfully different than outright removal,” the embassy stated. “The U.S. government would likely consider such a measure as facilitating censorship.”

The draft law curating recommended content would allow for the option to opt out and allow users to see only posts from accounts they choose to follow.

The embassy’s concerns included how Australia’s government or communications minister would assign what counts as “foreseeable harm,” and that mandated changes to algorithmic systems would “suppress expression that should be protected in order to avoid liability.” This would result in “pre-emptive censorship,” U.S. officials added.

The U.S. also warned that these changes could reverberate outside of Australia by affecting what users “see, say and hear not just in or from Australia, but globally.” Officials advised Canberra to clearly define how to and who would determine “harm” and “risk,” and warned against vague definitions.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promoted these reform proposals during his visit to the U.S. for the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, Reuters reported . He told reporters that the proposals are not intended to give his government greater authority, instead giving users the control to determine their content preferences.

“I will always stand up for Australia’s national interests, and the (reform) is something we have foreshadowed for some time,” Albanese said, per Reuters.

The Trump administration has criticized international attempts to regulate social media and campaigns designed to combat hate and misinformation.

Last December, the State Department placed visa bans on five Europeans leading overseeing efforts to improve internet safety to confront and disable hate speech and misinformation.

U.S. officials accused the European Union’s Digital Services Act of unfairly targeting American tech companies and citizens. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the five Europeans, including French former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, of leading “organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose.”

A federal judge in July blocked the State Department from enforcing the visa ban and deporting foreign nationals studying the effects of misinformation on social media, Reuters reported . Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington ruled that the policy hinders the five Europeans’ free speech, as protected by the First Amendment.