YouTube Challenges Australia's Social Media Ban: Why Restricting Children's Access May Not Improve Online Safety

YouTube Warns Australia's Social Media Ban for Children Won't Ensure Online Safety

YouTube will also be subject to the ban on social media for children under 16.

Australia's initiative to prohibit children from accessing social media platforms is "well intentioned" but will not effectively enhance their online safety, according to video streaming giant YouTube's warning on Monday.

Last year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese introduced landmark legislation that will prohibit children under 16 from using social media platforms by the end of 2025.

Popular platforms including Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram face substantial financial penalties for violating these regulations.

YouTube, which will also be affected by the ban, has contended that it should not be classified as a social media platform and should receive some form of exemption.

The company's local representative Rachel Lord informed a senate committee that while the ban was "well intentioned," it risked creating "unintended consequences."

"The legislation will not only be extremely difficult to implement, it also fails to fulfill its promise of enhancing online safety for children," she stated on Monday.

"Thoughtfully crafted legislation can effectively build upon industry efforts to improve online safety for children and teenagers, but preventing young people from accessing the internet is not the solution to keeping them safer online."

Lord argued that the platform should be "excluded from the scope of this legislation, as we are not a social media service."

Australia has been at the forefront of global initiatives to prevent internet harm, but current legislation provides minimal details regarding how the ban will be enforced.

Some experts have expressed concerns that the law may be primarily symbolic rather than effective.

Social media companies have previously characterized the laws as "vague," "problematic," and "rushed."

The eSafety Commissioner will have authority to impose fines of up to AUS$49.5 million (US$32 million) on social media companies that fail to comply with the regulations.

Last month, the government announced that social media platforms will not be required to verify the ages of all users, but must implement "reasonable steps" to identify and deactivate accounts belonging to underage users.