YouTube Should Be Included In Australia’s Social Media Ban For Kids Under 16, Commissioner Says
Australia’s online safety chief has stated that YouTube should be included on the list of social media platforms that are banned for kids under the age of 16. The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, is urging the government to include the video-sharing platform to the new regulations which apply to apps like TikTok and Instagram.
Grant is also recommending that the government update the under-16s social media ban to be more specific, and regulate things like stories, streaks, chatbots, and artificial intelligence which can also pose a major risk to young developing minds.
The ban was initially brought to legislation in December 2024, and will come into effect in December 2025. It’s currently unclear how exactly these online platforms will verify users’ ages, and the government has even stated that current confirmation technology is “not guaranteed to be effective.”
At the time of its initial creation, then communications minister Michelle Rowland alluded that YouTube would be a part of the social media sites included in the ban. The Guardian Australia reported, however, that YouTube’s global chief executive personally lobbied with Rowland to give an exemption to the site which is owned by Google.
Grant spoke with communications minister Anika Wells, offering advice over including YouTube in the ban and why it’s important:
“Given the known risks of harm on Youtube, the similarity of its functionality to other online services, and without sufficient evidence demonstrating that Youtube predominately provides beneficial experiences for children under 16, providing a specific carve out for Youtube appears to be inconsistent with the purpose of the Act.”
Rowland said that YouTube was exempt from the ban because the site can be used to give young people access to “education and health support.” Grant said this reasoning is “not consistent with the purpose of the obligation to reduce the risk of harm.”
Grant is planning to dissect this concern further in her press club speech, and will be referencing a relevant survey involving 2,600 children aged 10 to 15.
“Alarmingly, around seven in 10 kids said they had encountered harmful content, including exposure to misogynistic or hateful material, dangerous online challenges, violent fight videos, and content promoting disordered eating.”
“Children told us that 75% of this harmful content was most recently encountered on social media. YouTube was the most frequently cited platform in our research, with almost four in 10 children reporting exposure to harmful content there.”
“This also comes as the New York Times reported earlier this month that YouTube surreptitiously rolled back its content moderation processes to keep more harmful content on its platform, even when the content violates the company’s own policies,” Grant will say.
“Platform after platform are winding back their trust and safety teams and weakening policies designed to minimise harm, making these platforms ever-more perilous for our children.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.