Labor leaves YouTube out of under-16s social media ban

Sam Buckingham-JonesMedia and marketing reporter

Nov 21, 2024 – 7.34pm

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The Albanese government has unveiled the details of its social media ban for people under 16 and the results are in: YouTube won’t be included, but Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook will.

Despite explicitly saying YouTube would be caught by the ban when it was first announced, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland on Thursday said the Google-owned video platform and other apps that have a “significant purpose” of education would be out of scope of the laws.

Sam Buckingham-Jones is the media and marketing reporter at The Australian Financial Review.