I’m quite down on the addictive design social media companies use, including both algorithmic newsfeeds and endless scroll. As such, I was pleased to see the recent multi-billion dollar settlement between Facebook and nearly all of America.

The settlement will effectively force Meta to make major product changes for all U.S. teen users. The company agreed to interrupt endless scrolling and to impose two-hour daily time limits on Instagram and Facebook.

This is some good progress in regulating these products and loosening their hold over users. Unfortunately, it’s limited to underage users, and adults need protection against this harmful design as well.

When I first expressed my distaste for the way social media companies use algorithmic feeds to capture attention, I wrote:

Algorithmic newsfeeds can’t be uninvented, and it seems unlikely they’ll be regulated out of existence.

That’s likely still true, but there’s additional welcome news out of Australia. They’re planning to require at least the option to opt out of algorithmic content be made available, and they’re doing it for adults.

Users over 16 years of age will be given new tools to turn off algorithm-driven content, with platforms facing fines of more than A$100m for non-compliance.

Under the plan – dubbed “my feed, my way” – users opting out of the algorithm will see content only from individuals and groups they have actively chosen to follow.

Imagine that.