Latest news with #AnikaWells
Time of India
34 minutes ago
- Business
- Time of India
Australia adds YouTube to social media ban for children
Australia said on Wednesday it will include Alphabet-owned YouTube in its world-first ban on social media for teenagers, reversing an earlier decision to exempt the video-sharing platform. Australia's internet watchdog last month urged the government to overturn the proposed exemption for YouTube after its research found 37% of children aged 10 to 15 reported seeing harmful content on the platform, the most of any social media site. Other social media companies such as Meta's Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok had argued an exemption for YouTube would be unfair. "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," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement. "Social media is doing social harm to our children, and I want Australian parents to know that we have their backs." Social media firms will be fined up to A$49.5 million ($32.2 million) from December if they break the law, which passed through parliament in November. A YouTube spokesperson said the company would consider next steps and would continue to engage with the government. "We share the government's goal of addressing and reducing online harms. 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," the spokesperson said by email. Online gaming, messaging apps, and health and education sites will be excluded from the centre-left government's minimum age rules as they pose fewer social media harms to teens under 16, or are regulated under different laws, Communications Minister Anika Wells said. "The rules are not a set and forget, they are a set and support," Wells said.
ITV News
41 minutes ago
- Business
- ITV News
Australia to ban YouTube accounts for under 16s in policy u-turn
Australia has announced YouTube will join the list of social media platforms that must ensure account holders are at least 16 years old when laws come into effect in the country from December. YouTube was previously exempt from the upcoming law change when it originally passed through Parliament in November of 2024. The Australian government says the decision to include YouTube in the age restrictions was influenced by a survey released by Australia's independent online regulator, the e-safety Commission. The regulator found that 37% of children surveyed reported seeing harmful content on the website. Under the new law, children under the age of 16 will be banned from holding accounts on social media sites, which also includes Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, and X. The age restrictions will come into effect from December 10, with platforms facing fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (around £24 million) for "failing to take responsible steps", a government statement said. Anika Wells, Australia's Communications Minister, defended the decision, telling reporters: "The evidence cannot be ignored that four out of ten Australian kids report that their most recent harm was on YouTube.' She added the government will not be intimidated by legal threats made by the platforms' US owner, Alphabet Inc. "This is a genuine fight for the well-being of Australian kids, a fight the parents beside me have tragic reasons to wage with fearless determination," she said. "There is no perfect solution when it comes to keeping young Australians safe online, but the social media minimum age laws will make a meaningful difference." Under the new laws, children will still be able to access YouTube but will not be able to make an account. YouTube said the government's decision "reverses a clear, public commitment to exclude YouTube from this ban". A spokesperson added: "We share the government's goal of addressing and reducing online harms. "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." The website said it will consider next steps and engage with the government. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his country will campaign at the United Nations forum in New York this September, for international support to ban children from social media platforms. Online services exempt from the ban include messaging, education, online gaming, and health apps as they are considered less harmful to children.
CNN
an hour ago
- Politics
- CNN
YouTube to be included in Australia's social media ban for children under 16
Australia has picked a fight with the world's largest video platform by backtracking on an earlier promise to exclude YouTube in its social media ban for children under 16. The Labor government said Wednesday the site, which is owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, will be subject to the same rules as other leading platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and X – under legislation due to come into effect in December. The ban puts the onus on social media platforms to prevent children under 16 from having an account on their sites, or risk fines of nearly 50 million Australian dollars ($32 million). A YouTube spokesperson said the decision to include it in the ban 'reverses a clear, public commitment' from the government to treat the site as an educational tool. 'We will consider next steps and will continue to engage with the government,' the spokesman said, omitting any comment on the status of reported legal threats. YouTube Kids won't be included in the ban because it doesn't allow users to upload videos, or comment on them. Speaking Wednesday, Communications Minister Anika Wells likened the ban to teaching children to swim – a basic life skill in Australia where many suburban homes come with a swimming pool. 'It is like trying to teach your kids to swim in the open ocean, with the (rip currents) and the sharks, compared to at the local council pool,' she said. 'We can't control the ocean, but we can police the sharks, and that's why I will not be intimidated by legal threats when this is a genuine fight for the well-being of Australian kids.' The government said the decision to include YouTube was influenced by a survey released by Australia's independent online regulator, the eSafety Commission, this month that found 37% of children surveyed had reported seeing harmful content on the site. Harmful content includes sexist, misogynistic or hateful ideas, dangerous online challenges or fight videos, or content that encourages unhealthy eating or exercise habits. 'YouTube uses the same persuasive design features as other social media platforms, like infinite scroll, like autoplay and algorithmic feed,' Wells told Parliament Wednesday. 'Our kids don't stand a chance, and that is why I accepted the eSafety (Commission) recommendation that YouTube should not be treated differently from other social media platforms.' The government passed what it has called 'world-leading' legislation last year, providing a 12-month buffer to figure out how it was going to work. As part of its research, the government commissioned age assurance verification trials to test the limits of different technologies to inform the rules it'll impose on social media companies. A preliminary report released in June reached 12 findings, including that age verification can be done in a 'private, robust and effective' way. But it also found there was no 'single ubiquitous solution' that would suit all cases, nor one that was 100% effective. The report also said 'concerning evidence' had emerged that platforms were 'over-anticipating the eventual needs of regulators about providing personal information for future investigations.' 'Some providers were found to be building tools to enable regulators, law enforcement or Coroners to retrace the actions taken by individuals to verify their age which could lead to increased risk of privacy breaches due to unnecessary and disproportionate collection and retention of data,' the preliminary report found. Privacy concerns have been raised by critics of the plan – while others say it will limit options for isolated and vulnerable children who rely on social platforms for support. Wells has acknowledged the ban won't be perfect. 'Kids, God bless them, are going to find a way around this. Maybe they're all going to swarm on LinkedIn. We don't know,' she said. YouTube and other platforms say they're already taking steps to protect children online. This week, YouTube announced new trials of AI in the United States to interpret a 'variety of signals' to determine if a user is under 18. 'These signals include the types of videos a user is searching for, the categories of videos they have watched, or the longevity of the account,' YouTube said in a statement. If users are determined to be under 18, personalized ads will be deactivated, well-being tools will be activated, and repetitive viewing will be limited for some kinds of content, the company said. Platforms have been lobbying against the Australian ban – appealing to the government and Australian parents to rethink the proposal. TikTok has recently run ads on Facebook in the country touting the platform as an educational tool. 'From fishing to chef skills, Aussie teens are learning something new every day on TikTok,' says one online ad. Wells revealed Wednesday that YouTube had dispatched a representative of the Wiggles, the hugely popular Australian children's entertainment group, to argue against its inclusion in the ban. 'The Wiggles are a treasured Australian institution. But like I said to them, you're arguing that my 4-year-old twins right to have a YouTube login is more important than the fact that four out of 10 of their peers will experience online harm on YouTube, and they might be two of those four,' Wells told CNN affiliate 9 News, citing a recent survey by the eSafety Commission. 'I just didn't find that argument ultimately persuasive.' Almost 3,500 Australian children, ages 10-17, took part in the 'Keeping Kids Safe' survey between December 2024 and February 2025. Three out of four reported seeing harmful content.
SBS Australia
an hour ago
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Government will ban YouTube for under 16 year olds
Three parents of teenagers lost to the harms of social media have taken their stories of loss, right to the office of the Prime Minister. Among the group was Mia Bannister, who lost her son Ollie last year, when he was 14. 'This restriction, while specific to account creation is a good starting point. We won't stop pushing for real, meaningful reform. Together we made change happen, and together we will keep going. Thank you.' The Federal Government this week banned children under 16 from creating a YouTube account. That's after the platform was initially spared from a broader social media ban. Communications Minister Anika Wells says she made the decision after receiving advice from e-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant. 'The evidence cannot be ignored that four out of ten Australian kids report that their most recent harm was on YouTube. As parents we are really trying our best when it comes to the internet, but it is like trying to teach your kids how to swim in the open ocean with the rips and the sharks compared to at the local council pool. We can't control the ocean, but we can police the sharks.' She says under-16s can still access YouTube Kids. 'There is a place for social media. There is no place for predatory algorithms, and that's what we're cracking down on. There is no cure, but this is a treatment plan, and this is too important for us not to have a good crack at it.' While these parents hailed the move, others see it differently, like Leo Puglisi, who started 6 News while he was in primary school. 'Broadly it does restrict the access of teenagers from getting news and information. And that's not just from 6 news, that's from other outlets who post their information online. They're getting that from traditional outlets often from one way or another. They might not be watching TV, they might not be listening to the radio, but they're seeing it online. This ban just cuts that off or at least it seems to be attempting to do that.' Youtuber Grace Mulgrew says the ban could impact the number of viewers she'll reach. 'Potentially my videos won't get recommended as much, because people who are using their parents' account, I'm sure they're going to be getting content that their parents are watching as well. So maybe it could impact the way that our videos are recommended, especially if you're an up-and-coming Youtuber too, it's going to be really hard to try and establish an audience if you're trying to target a younger audience.' The ban also facing criticism inside Parliament House, including from Deputy Opposition Leader, Ted O'Brien. 'There's no doubt that the safety of children has to come first. What's curious is the government did not make it clear to the Australian people its intent before the election. Now its changed its mind.' The Greens Communications spokeswoman is Sarah Hanson-Young. 'It's delulu to think that Google will just do the right thing. They need to be forced to do it, and that means a legislated enforceable duty of care and to be licenced.' YouTube's parent company Google was this week scheduled to host a major event in Parliament's Great Hall, but it was postponed out of respect to the grieving parents. Earlier this week, Google had threatened legal action against the government. A spokesperson for YouTube says the site is a video-sharing platform, not social media, and will consider its next steps. Digital Rights Watch Founder Lizzie O'Shea, says the government's announcement today was a missed opportunity. 'I absolutely think there's a role for government here to regulate large technology companies from a safety perspective. The question is what form should that take? An outright ban has these technical problems which I think can be distracting from other reforms. The key reform I think the govt should progress at this stage is bold privacy reform. That attacks the underlying business model that gives rise to a lot of these negative design features.' The ban will come into effect from December 10.
Mint
2 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
Australia to ban YouTube for children under 16 to shield them from ‘predatory algorithm'
Australia YouTube Ban: Australia will no more allow children under 16 years of age to be present on YouTube, a top minister said on Wednesday, citing the need to shield them from 'predatory algorithm'. The Australia YouTube ban for children under 16 follows a similar move the country announced last year, which banned them from using Meta Platforms Inc.'s Facebook and Instagram, Snap Inc.'s Snapchat, TikTok and X — which is due to come into effect from December 10 onwards. 'Young people under the age of 16 will not be able to have accounts on YouTube. They will also not be able to have accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and X among other platforms. We want Australian parents and families to know that we have got their back,' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a press conference on Wednesday. 'We know this is not the only solution and there's more to do. But it will make a difference. We know that social media is doing social harm,' he added. Communications Minister Anika Wells said four-in-ten Australian children had reported viewing harmful content on YouTube, one of the most visited websites in the world. "We want kids to know who they are before platforms assume who they are," Wells said in a statement. 'There's a place for social media, but there's not a place for predatory algorithms targeting children.' The Australia YouTube ban comes despite the country earlier excluding the video-streaming platform from its list. Now YouTube, along with Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and X, faces a A$49.5 million ($32.2 million) fine if it fails to stop underage children from stopping to use their services, the government says. A spokesman for YouTube said Wednesday's announcement was a jarring U-turn from the government. "Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens," the company said in a statement. "It's not social media," the company said on its statement over Australia YouTube ban.
