US Lawmaker Proposes Law That Allows Social Media Users To Disable Algorithms

JAKARTA - A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the US House of Representatives has introduced legislation that would require internet platforms such as Facebook Meta and Google Alphabet to allow users to view content not selected by algorithms.

The legislation, introduced by Representatives Ken Buck, a Republican, and David Cicilline, a Democrat, and others, will require major internet platforms to show consumer information that is not directed at them via algorithms. This puts them beyond what lawmakers call a “filter bubble.”

Cicilline is chair of the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel, and Buck is the top Republican. The panel wrote a major report released last year that sharply criticized big tech companies, including Amazon and Apple.

The House move is a companion to a bill introduced in the Senate in June. That one is also bipartisan.

"Consumers should have the option to engage with internet platforms without being manipulated by secret algorithms driven by user-specific data," Buck said in a statement.

In addition, there are antitrust laws aimed at large technology platforms.

Recently, Senators Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel, and Tom Cotton of the Republican Party introduced a bill that would make it easier for the government to terminate deals believed to violate antitrust laws.

Usually, it is up to the government to show certain transactions will cause prices to rise or be illegal for other reasons.