Present and the Digital Duty of Care
On 8 September 2026 the Australian Government released draft laws that will make social media platforms offer every user a feed without the algorithm. Present has never had an algorithm to opt out of. It has been your connections, in the order it happened, since the first build.
The draft Digital Duty of Care puts the onus on digital services to provide a safe online environment, with minimum standards for the features and tools they use. Its headline measure is My Feed, My Way: platforms must send every new and existing user a notification offering a choice over their default feed. People over 16 can opt in to personalised recommendations, or opt out and see only the people and creators they chose to follow.
The same draft laws require online services, including apps, games and chatbots, to protect under-18s from design features with negative behavioural effects, such as addictive features and those that damage self-esteem, and from a named list of harmful content. Platforms must document the measures they take and keep them effective. Penalties run to $109.2 million, with the eSafety Commissioner enforcing. The legislation is out for targeted consultation and is expected in Parliament this year.
“This is not about giving government control, it is about giving people control.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, 8 September 2026Present is a camera-only social app for the people you actually know. It was designed around one idea: everything on it happened, and you see it because someone you chose was there. That decision made most of My Feed, My Way true before it was written.
A choice between an algorithmic feed and a feed of the accounts you chose.
There is only the feed you chose. Present's feed is strictly chronological and shows only your connections' posts. Nothing is recommended, ranked or inserted.
Respecting that choice every time the app opens.
Every open is the same feed: what you have not seen yet, then anything you have seen that has new replies, then it ends. There is no setting to drift back from.
Protecting under-18s from addictive design features.
The feed ends and says so. No infinite scroll. Videos are at most six seconds. Notifications are batched to once a day by default, or can be switched off. Autoplay on mobile data is a setting.
Protecting under-18s from content that damages self-esteem.
No public feed, no discovery of strangers, no followers, no filters and no uploads: every post is a live capture from the phone's camera, sealed the moment it is taken.
Keeping under-18s away from pornography and graphic violence.
Nothing can be uploaded from a library or the web. On phones with Apple's Communication Safety on, the default for every under-18 account since iOS 26.1, a nude or graphic violence is refused at the shutter on the phone itself.
Protecting under-18s from abuse and bullying.
Accounts for 16 and 17 year olds are private and locked private until 18. Being tagged is a request that can be declined. Anyone can be blocked, and blocking cannot be undone by the other side.
Keeping under-16s off social media.
Present is 16+. On iOS 26 and later the age comes from Apple's Declared Age Range, not a typed date. Anyone can report a profile as belonging to someone under 16.
Reporting and removal that works.
Every photo, video, reply and profile can be reported in the app. Reports are acted on within 24 hours; removed content leaves every feed and profile and its public page stops resolving.
Documenting the measures and keeping them effective.
This page, and the child safety page it links to, are that document. They describe what the app does today and will change when the app does.
Most social media feeds are an argument between you and a ranking system about what you should look at next. My Feed, My Way asks platforms to let you win that argument. On Present there is no argument. The feed is a list of what your connections captured, newest first. When you have seen it all, it tells you, and stops.
That is not a mode or a toggle. It is the only feed the app has, which means the notification offering a choice that the draft law describes has nothing to offer on Present. You already have the feed the law describes as the opt-out.
What we mean by "no algorithm".
Sorting a list by time is still code, so if you want to be strict about the word, there is one. What people mean by "the algorithm" is the part that decides what you should see next: ranking posts by how much engagement they pull, recommending accounts you never asked for, and mixing in strangers to keep you scrolling. Present has none of that. Every post from your connections, newest first, is the whole of the logic.
What "chronological" means here.
Posts you have not seen come first, in the order they were captured. Behind them sit posts you have already seen that have new replies, so a conversation can carry on. Then the feed ends. Nothing is re-surfaced because it did well, and nothing is held back because it did not.
The draft law lists the harms it wants digital services to keep young people away from. Present's answer to most of them is structural rather than a filter: there is no way for that content to arrive.
Age is Apple's word, not a typed date.
On iOS 26 and later Present asks Apple's Declared Age Range, which reflects the age on the person's Apple account. Under 16 cannot join. Only the age bracket, and whether it came from Apple, is ever sent. No date of birth is stored anywhere.
Private until 18.
A 16 or 17 year old's account is locked private. In the app, their photos are shown only to the people they have connected with, unless they choose to share a public link to a single post.
Anything here can be publicly verified.
Real, verified posts are the whole point of Present, so any post can be given a public link when it needs to be checked, from any account, including a 16 or 17 year old's. They confirm first, the link covers that one post, and their account stays private. Anyone who opens it sees when and where it was captured, on what device, and that it hasn't changed.
Nothing arrives from elsewhere.
There is no upload, no reshare and no link preview. Every post is a photograph or a video of at most six seconds, taken live in the app and sealed on the phone with Apple's App Attest. Pornography, crime and stunt videos, and eating disorder content circulate on social media by being reposted, and Present has no repost.
Checked at the shutter, on the phone.
Where Apple's Communication Safety is on, which is the default for every under-18 account since iOS 26.1, the phone's own analyser refuses a nude or graphic violence before Post is offered. Nothing leaves the device for that check and nothing is stored.
No engagement mechanics.
No followers, no streaks, no discovery of strangers, and a feed that ends.
Reporting that includes age.
Every report sheet offers "The person is under 16" alongside nudity, harassment and the rest. Reports go to the Present team and are acted on within 24 hours.
An Australian Government initiative announced on 8 September 2026 as part of the draft Digital Duty of Care. Social media platforms will have to notify every user and let them choose between a default feed with algorithmically recommended content and a feed showing only the accounts they chose to follow. The same draft law requires digital services to protect under-18s from addictive design features and harmful content, with penalties of up to $109.2 million.
No. The feed is strictly chronological and shows only posts from the people you have connected with. Nothing is recommended, nothing is ranked by engagement, and there is no public feed or discovery of strangers. Once you have seen everything, the feed ends and says so. Sorting by time is still code, so strictly speaking there is one; what it does not do is decide what you should see next.
There is nothing to opt out of. Everyone on Present already has the feed the draft law describes as the opt-out choice: the people they chose, in the order it happened, and nothing else.
Present is for people 16 and over, with age taken from Apple's Declared Age Range on iOS 26 and later. Anyone aged 16 or 17 has a private account locked private until they are 18. On phones with Apple's Communication Safety on, the default for every under-18 account since iOS 26.1, a nude or graphic violence is refused at the shutter. Anyone can report a profile as belonging to someone under 16.
The feed ends. It shows what you have not seen, then anything you have seen that has new replies, then nothing, and tells you so. Videos are at most six seconds, and autoplay on mobile data can be turned off in Settings. Notifications are batched to once a day by default, and can be turned off entirely.
The law is a draft under consultation, so nothing is compliant with it yet. What this page describes is how Present works today, which matches what the draft asks for. When the law is passed, this page will say what changed, if anything had to.
A camera, your connections, and a feed that ends.
Present is invite-only. If someone you know is on it, ask them for a link.
Source: My Feed, My Way, media release, Prime Minister of Australia, 8 September 2026.