‘Doesn't make sense': Teen founder of 6 News scolds Albanese govt's backflip as YouTube included in social media ban
Australia became the first country in the world to ban social media for children under the age of 16.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister Anika Wells announced on Wednesday YouTube would now be included in the framework, despite earlier suggestions the site might be exempt.
From December 10, all services which meet the definition of 'age-restricted social media platform' in the Act, and are not excluded in the rules, will be subject to the social media minimum age law - with fines up to $49.5 million for those who do not comply.
Under 16s will still be able to use YouTube in a logged-out state, but they will not be able to hold an account.
Chief correspondent of 6 News, Leo Puglisi, 17, said there were 'a lot of problems' with including YouTube in what was already a problematic social media ban.
Puglisi was just 11-years-old when he founded 6 News, which has since grown to inform thousands of people across YouTube and other social media platforms.
In five years the youth-focused news channel has garnered a healthy following of 30,000 subscribers on YouTube, covering stories by the hour across politics, sports, law, and government.
Puglisi said it would have been a 'real shame' if the new laws were in effect when he first started 6 News, but the ban would be very difficult to enforce.
'I think it's virtually impossible to enforce age verification without requiring that for pretty much all age groups and I don't think most people are going to be willing to hand over their passport to an overseas social media site,' he told Sky News host Steve Price.
The teenaged media personality said the harmful content the government "keeps talking about" would continue to be on YouTube and would still be accessed by young people.
'You could log in with your parents' accounts, as a lot of people do from a young age. I don't see why that would suddenly stop,' he said.
'This ban doesn't actually stop harmful content. It supposedly delays the age of when a teenager would see it, but even in saying that, it's going to be seen in a logged out state.'
While the social media ban does not affect Puglisi, it still restricts his co-workers from exercising their journalistic capabilities on social media.
Puglisi said the government's ban was not addressing what it said it would and it was 'concerning' how the legislation was 'rushed' through parliament.
'We're only getting consultation after the legislation was passed rather than a lot more consultation before it actually was passed,' he said.
Puglisi said the educational use of YouTube was 'extremely wide' and was used as a resource in schools for remote learning, as well as videos being assigned for homework.
With the largest video sharing platform in the world originally exempted from the social media ban, now 'so much content' would be restricted which Puglisi said was 'not a practicality'.
'This backflip just really doesn't make sense,' he said.
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