Australia to add YouTube to social media ban
Australia will include YouTube in its ban on social media access for users under 16, reversing an earlier exemption for the video-sharing platform, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Wednesday.
The move follows a recommendation from the national internet regulator, which cited a survey showing that 37% of minors encountered harmful content on YouTube—the highest among major platforms.
'This is about protecting our kids,' Albanese said in a statement. 'We're calling time on platforms that harm young Australians. I want parents to know we have their backs.'
Protecting kids online means taking on some tough problems, so we're banning social media accounts for under-16s.The way these platforms are built can harm children while they're still finding their own way.No one knows this better than Mia, Rob and Emma, who have suffered… pic.twitter.com/Nia5EKZsaD
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) July 30, 2025
Passed in November 2024 with bipartisan support, the legislation initially restricted underage access to TikTok, X, Facebook, and Instagram, while YouTube had been excluded due to its broad use in educational settings.
However, Communications Minister Anika Wells said the exemption no longer stands, citing new data indicating that four in ten children had viewed harmful material on the site. 'There's a place for social media,' she stated, 'but not for predatory algorithms targeting children.'
She added that children deserve the space to develop their identities 'before platforms assume who they are.'
YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc., pushed back on the classification. 'YouTube is not social media,' a spokesperson said. 'It's a video-sharing platform with a library of high-quality, free content that's increasingly watched on television screens."
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