澳大利亚推行"关闭开关"：关闭算法后社交媒体会怎样？

澳大利亚政府将数字关怀法案提交议会，该法案包含允许用户关闭社交媒体推荐算法的"关闭开关"功能1。这项立法借鉴了微信的运营模式——微信自2011年推出以来已运行无算法推荐模式超过十年，目前全球用户已达10亿1。

然而，研究发现在缺乏算法策展的平台上，关闭推荐可能带来意想不到的后果1。当算法被关闭时，发布者会采取"发布越快越频繁，点击越多"的策略来最大化收入，这导致低质量和标题党内容增加1。此外，澳大利亚同时推出了针对16岁以下用户的社交媒体禁令1。

The Australian government has introduced digital care legislation that would grant users an "off-switch" to disable social media recommendation algorithms 1. This regulatory approach draws lessons from WeChat, which has operated without algorithmic curation for over a decade since its 2011 launch and has accumulated approximately one billion global users 1.

Research into algorithm-free platforms suggests potential drawbacks to such a policy. When algorithmic recommendation systems are disabled, content publishers tend to adopt strategies focused on maximizing posting frequency and clickthrough rates to compete for user attention 1. This shift in publisher behavior has been documented through studies examining official accounts targeting Chinese-Australian audiences, conducted as part of the RECapture research project since 2019 1. The removal of algorithmic curation can paradoxically increase the prevalence of low-quality and sensationalist content on platforms, as creators abandon algorithm-optimized strategies in favor of volume-based engagement tactics 1.

Alongside the proposed algorithm controls, Australia is simultaneously pursuing a separate social media restriction that would prohibit users under sixteen years of age from accessing these platforms 1. WeChat expanded its content offerings in 2021 by launching a short-video feature called Channels, attempting to compete with rivals such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu in an increasingly fragmented social media landscape 1.