YouTube to be included in social media ban for under 16s after exemption reversed

Australia Broadcast Center

3 days ago

Children and teenagers will be barred from logging in to YouTube under the incoming social media ban for under 16s after the government reversed its plan to grant the video sharing site an exemption.
Rules of how the ban will operate are set to be presented to parliament on Wednesday, including details of the types of platforms that will not be captured, such as those primarily concerned with gaming, messaging, health and education.
It comes days after Google, the parent company of YouTube, threatened legal action if the government scrapped its previously flagged exemption on the basis of the platform's educational uses.
Over the weekend, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said a decision on whether YouTube would be included was yet to be made — despite the draft rules naming the platform as exempt — and that the government would not be influenced by threats from social media companies.
"Our government is making it clear — we stand on the side of families," Mr Albanese said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Social media has a social responsibility and there is no doubt that Australian kids are being negatively impacted by online platforms, so I'm calling time on it."
YouTube differs from other popular social media sites in that it doesn't require users to have an account to access most features and young people will still be able to use the site in a logged-out state after the world-leading laws come into force in December.
But including YouTube in the list of social media platforms covered by the ban — which already includes apps like TikTok and Instagram — means under 16s won't be able to access age-restricted content on the video-sharing site.
Former communications minister Michelle Rowland initially flagged that YouTube was likely to be exempt from the laws in November last year.
But the proposed carve out was thrown into question last month when eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant — who is tasked with implementing the laws — wrote to new Communications Minister Anika Wells formally recommending it be scrapped.
She cited eSafety research that found young people used YouTube more than any other social media platform and it was where they were most likely to experience harm online.
"When we asked where they were experiencing harm and the kinds of harms they were experiencing, the most prevalent place where young Australians experienced harm was on YouTube — almost 37 per cent," Dr Inman Grant said.
"This ranges from misogynistic content to hateful material, to violent fighting videos, online challenges, disordered eating, suicidal ideation."
She also argued that YouTube had the characteristics of a platform that should fall under the ban and cautioned against naming specific platforms for carve outs.
The platform's competitors had separately campaigned against its exclusion, accusing the government of making a "sweetheart deal" in private submissions.
YouTube has previously argued that it is a video streaming platform, rather than a social media site, and therefore should not be captured by the ban, citing evidence that it is widely used in classrooms and by parents.
Under the new laws, which are due to come into force on December 10, social media companies will face fines of up to almost $50 million for failing to take "reasonable steps" to bar under 16s from their platforms.
"There is no one perfect solution when it comes to keeping young Australians safer online — but the social media minimum age will make a significantly positive difference to their wellbeing," Communications Minister Anika Wells said in a statement.
"There's a place for social media, but there's not a place for predatory algorithms targeting children."