The Australian Government has backflipped on YouTube’s exemption from the social media ban for under 16s and will now include the video-sharing platform in the new legislation that will take effect from December
This means children and younger teenagers aged under 16 will not be allowed to log into the video site before the end of the year.
This decision was made just days after YouTube, which is owned by gigantic tech company Google, threatened to sue the Australian Government if its exemption from the new laws were revoked.
YouTube said in a statement it is considering its next steps which could include going through with the company’s threats of launching legal action.
“We share the Government’s goal of addressing and reducing online harms,” the YouTube statement read.
“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 Government’s announcement today reverses a clear, public commitment to exclude YouTube from this ban.
“We will consider next steps and will continue to engage with the Government.”
Late last year the Government made it clear that YouTube would not be included with the social media platforms because of its educational values.
This was backed by stats from the video sharing giant that showed 94 per cent of teachers surveyed globally use YouTube in lessons for its students.
The Government turnaround was shepherded by new Communications Minister Anika Wells.
“There is no one perfect solution when it comes to keeping young Australians safer online — but the social media minimum age will make a significantly positive difference to their wellbeing,” Ms Wells said in a statement.
“There’s a place for social media, but there’s not a place for predatory algorithms targeting children.”
YouTube now joins Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and Snapchat as platforms where no person aged under 16 can have an account.
But YouTube, unlike the other soon-to-be banned social media platforms, can be viewed without being signed in to an account.
If these platforms don’t “take reasonable steps” to ban users aged under 16 they face a $49.5 million fine.
