The Albanese government has given another reason to explain its captain’s call to carve YouTube out of a ban on social media for people under 16, now arguing it is doing what most of the community wants.

Responding to direct questions from two senators about why YouTube was given an exemption from the ban, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts told Senator Fatima Payman that the exclusionof YouTube from the minimum age obligation was “consistent with broad community sentiment, which highlights the value of YouTube as a tool for education and learning”.