Australia to Ban YouTube for Teenagers

Australia will add YouTube to a list of social media platforms banned for use by teenagers, reversing a previous decision to spare the video-sharing site from the ban, and potentially paving the way for a legal challenge, Reuters reported. 

The move follows a recommendation by the Internet regulator last month, urging the government to review its stance on YouTube, citing a survey in which 37 percent of minors reported harmful content on the platform – the highest rate among the social media platforms surveyed. 

The ban, the first of its kind in the world, will forbid individuals under 16 from having an account, although they will still be able to watch YouTube while logged out. Parents and teachers will still be permitted to show YouTube videos to minors. 

YouTube Kids, which is more strictly moderated, will remain exempt from the ban, which is scheduled to take effect in December, the Guardian noted. 

“I want Australian parents to know that we have their backs,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement, emphasizing the harmful impact online platforms have on Australian children and calling on social media companies to fulfill their social responsibility. 

The ban requires social media platforms to take “reasonable steps” to prevent Australians under 16 from opening accounts, or they risk a fine of about $30 million. 

Some major tech companies have privately expressed concerns about unclear guidelines on compliance with the “reasonable steps” requirements, including what new verification measures or barriers they are required to implement. 

Last year, after the government said it would not ban YouTube because it is widely used by teachers, the owners of platforms under the ban, such as Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, complained, saying YouTube is similar to their products, including features that allow user interaction and content recommendations driven by algorithms based on user activity. 

Meanwhile, the Google-owned YouTube, used by nearly three-quarters of Australians between the ages of 13 and 15, argued it should not be considered as social media given that its main role is to host videos, which are increasingly watched on TV screens. 

This is not the first instance in which Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and Australia have been at odds: The company had threatened to withdraw some Google services from the country in 2021 to sidestep a law requiring it to compensate news outlets for content shown in search results.