An exposure draft of a much-anticipated "digital duty of care" is expected to be released in the coming sitting fortnight as Labor steps up efforts to tackle online harm.
It would put the onus on social media companies to mitigate risk on their platforms, including actively removing illegal or harmful content.
Opt-out options for algorithms would be made mandatory, giving users the choice to take their social media feeds back to the friends-only content they once were.
Several areas are expected to be identified as off-limits to minors due to the potential for psychological harm, including content that promoted harmful body images.
Companies could face fines of up to $100 million if the laws were breached.
The changes would prevent boys from being bombarded with violent and misogynistic material, Labor's Matt Thistlethwaite told News24's Sunday Agenda program.
"Many Australian parents have said that they're concerned about their children being exposed to this material," he said.
"We think that the platforms have a responsibility to try and keep young Australian kids safe."
But the measure would fall short of the opt-in model put forward by some campaigners.
Consent activist Chanel Contos recently said an algorithm opt-out was a good first step, but the measure did not go far enough to stop boys and young men being exposed to harmful content.
Instead, her organisation's Fix Our Feeds campaign calls for linear social media feeds that would only transition to algorithm-based models if users chose them.
"It would fundamentally make the transition onto social media for 16-year-olds and other children safer, and it would bring the principle of affirmative consent to our screens," she told the National Press Club.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said parents should have more control over what their children could see on social media.
But he was unconvinced by the latest plans from Labor, which he accused of butchering its under-16s social media ban.
More than 80 per cent of 12-to-17-year-olds were still using socials following the December 2025 crackdown, previous University of Newcastle research showed.
"The government should be focused on that because it's not working," Mr Taylor said.
"So then going off and starting on some other thing ... I think there's good reason to be sceptical about that," he said.
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