Australia widens teen social media ban to YouTube
The decision came after the internet regulator urged the government last month to overturn the YouTube carve-out, citing a survey that found 37% of minors reported harmful content on the site, the worst showing for a social media platform.
"I'm calling time on it," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement highlighting that Australian children were being negatively affected by online platforms, and reminding social media of their social responsibility.
"I want Australian parents to know that we have their backs."
The decision broadens the ban set to take effect in December. YouTube says it is used by nearly three-quarters of Australians aged 13 to 15, and should not be classified as social media because its main activity is hosting videos.
"Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens. It's not social media," a YouTube spokesperson said by email.
Since the government said last year it would exempt YouTube due to its popularity with teachers, platforms covered by the ban, such as Meta's Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, have complained.
They say YouTube has key similarities to their products, including letting users interact and recommending content through an algorithm based on activity.
The ban outlaws YouTube accounts for those younger than 16, allowing parents and teachers to show videos on it to minors.
"Teachers are always curators of any resource for appropriateness (and) will be judicious," said Angela Falkenberg, president of the Australian Primary Principals Association, which supports the ban.
Artificial intelligence has supercharged the spread of misinformation on social media platforms such as YouTube, said Adam Marre, chief information security officer at cyber security firm Arctic Wolf.
"The Australian government's move to regulate YouTube is an important step in pushing back against the unchecked power of big tech and protecting kids," he added in an email.
The reversal sets up a fresh dispute with Alphabet, which threatened to withdraw some Google services from Australia in 2021 to avoid a law forcing it to pay news outlets for content appearing in searches.
Last week, YouTube told Reuters it had written to the government urging it "to uphold the integrity of the legislative process". Australian media said YouTube threatened a court challenge, but YouTube did not confirm that.
"I will not be intimidated by legal threats when this is a genuine fight for the well-being of Australian kids," Communications Minister Anika Wells told parliament on Wednesday.
The law passed in November only requires "reasonable steps" by social media platforms to keep out Australians younger than 16, or face a fine of up to A$49.5 million.
The government, which is due to receive a report this month on tests of age-checking products, has said those results will influence enforcement of the ban.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nikkei Asia
40 minutes ago
- Nikkei Asia
Japan's GDP shrinks at an annualized 0.1% in June: JCER
The Japanese economy declined in June, despite solid growth in private capital investment. © Reuters RYOHTAROH SATOH August 13, 2025 22:53 JST TOKYO -- Japan's economy contracted at an annualized pace of 0.1% in June from the previous month, as a solid rebound in private capital investment was offset by weaker net exports, according to an estimate released by the Japan Center for Economic Research (JCER) on Tuesday.
Nikkei Asia
3 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
Myanmar security forces involved in systematic torture, UN report says
GENEVA (Reuters) -- United Nations investigators said on Tuesday they have found evidence of systematic torture by Myanmar security forces and identified some of the most senior perpetrators. The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), formed in 2018 to analyze evidence of serious violations of international law, said victims were subject to beatings, electric shocks, gang rape, strangulation and other forms of torture like the removal of fingernails with pliers. "We have uncovered significant evidence, including eyewitness testimony, showing systematic torture in Myanmar detention facilities," Nicholas Koumjian, head of the IIMM, said in a statement accompanying the 16-page report. The torture sometimes resulted in death, the report said. Children, who are often unlawfully detained as proxies for their missing parents, were among those tortured, it said. In an email to Reuters, Myanmar's military government said it was conducting "security measures" lawfully and did not illegally arrest, torture or execute innocent civilians. It said "terrorists" were responsible for torture and killings. The military-backed government has not responded to over two dozen requests by the U.N. team for information about the alleged crimes and requests to access the country, the U.N. report says. The military's response to Reuters did not address the U.N. allegation. The findings in the report cover one year through to June 30 and are based on information from more than 1,300 sources, including hundreds of eyewitnesses. Forensic evidence, documents and photographs were also used. Perpetrators identified so far include high-level commanders, the report says, although names were withheld due to ongoing investigations and concerns about alerting the individuals. Investigators focused on torture partly because many victims were able to identify perpetrators individually, which Koumjian, a former prosecutor, said could help with future convictions. "People often know the names or they certainly know the faces of those who torture them or who torture their friends," Koumjian told reporters in Geneva. Myanmar has been in chaos since a 2021 military coup against an elected civilian government plunged the country into civil war. Tens of thousands of people have been detained since then, the United Nations says. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing ended a four-year state of emergency last month and announced the formation of a new government, with himself as acting president, ahead of a planned election. The IIMM is investigating abuses in Myanmar since 2011, including crimes committed against the mainly Muslim Rohingya minority in 2017, when hundreds of thousands were forced to flee a military crackdown, and those affecting all groups since the coup. The IIMM is supporting jurisdictions investigating the alleged crimes, such as Britain and the International Criminal Court. However, Koumjian said U.N. budget cuts threaten the IIMM's work. Donations for its research on sexual violence and crimes against children as well as funding for witness security are set to run out at year-end, he said. "All of this," he said, "would have a very substantial effect on our ability to continue to document the crimes and provide evidence that will be useful to jurisdictions prosecuting these cases."
Nikkei Asia
6 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
No end in sight to Israel's targeting of Gaza
A view from Israel of humanitarian aid being airdropped into Gaza on Aug. 7. © Reuters Farhan Bokhari is an Islamabad-based foreign correspondent who writes on Pakistan and the surrounding region.
