YouTube to be part of Australia’s youth social media ban

YouTube will be included in Australia’s world-first social media ban for children under 16, after the government ditched a previous exemption for the platform.

The video sharing site was set to be excluded from the ban – which will limit TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X and Snapchat and is due to start in December.

Under the ban, teenagers will still be able to view YouTube videos but will not be permitted to have an account, which is required for uploading content or interacting on the platform.

YouTube – owned by Google – had argued it shouldn’t be blocked for children as the platform “offers benefit and value to younger Australians”: “It’s not social media,” it said in statement on Wednesday.

Australia’s laws are being watched with great interest by global leaders, with Norway announcing a similar ban and the UK saying it is considering following suit.

“Social media is doing social harm to our children, and I want Australian parents to know that we have their backs,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told media on Wednesday.

“We know that this is not the only solution,” he said of the ban, “but it will make a difference.”

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant last month recommended YouTube be added to the ban as it was “the most frequently cited platform” where children aged 10 to 15 years saw “harmful content”.

After Wednesday’s announcement, a spokesperson from YouTube said it will “consider next steps” and “continue to engage” with the government.

Last week, several Australian media outlets had reported that Google was threatening to sue the government if YouTube was included in the ban, arguing it would restrict political freedom.

Federal Communications Minister Anika Wells said that while there is a place for social media, “there’s not a place for predatory algorithms targeting children”.

She described trying to protect children from the harms of the internet as “like trying to teach your kids 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 and that is why we will not be intimidated by legal threats when this is a genuine fight for the wellbeing of Australian kids,” she said.

Exclusions to the ban will include “online gaming, messaging, education and health apps” as they “pose fewer social media harms to under 16s”, Wells said.

Under the ban, tech companies can fined up to A$50m ($32.5m; £25.7m) if they don’t comply with the age restrictions. They will need to deactivate existing accounts and prohibit any new accounts, as well as stopping any work arounds and correcting errors.

More details of how the new ban will work are due to be presented to federal parliament on Wednesday.