Aussie kids under 16yo banned from having YouTube account

Following advice from Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, the Albanese Government has opted to add the video platform to its social media age ban after it was deemed harmful to children.

Australian children under 16 years old will no longer be able have a YouTube account as the Albanese Government opts to add the video platform to its social media age ban.

Labor’s decision to include YouTube in the age restriction laws due to take effect from December 10 follows advice from Australia’s eSafety Commissioner the platform had similar functions to other social media platforms — like TikTok and Instagram — deemed harmful to children.

Communications Minister Anika Wells will make the announcement in Canberra on Wednesday, and said the government was giving kids “reprieve from the persuasive and pervasive pull of social media while giving parents peace of mind”.

“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,” she said.

Aussie kids under 16 years old will no longer be able have a YouTube account as the Albanese Government opts to add the video platform to its social media age ban. Picture: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images

YouTube — along with Facebook Messenger Kids, Google Classroom and the Kids Helpline ‘MyCircle’ platform — had initially been excluded from the age restriction laws that passed parliament with bipartisan support last year.

But in June, Ms Wells published advice from eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant recommending YouTube be added to the ban because the platform had features the law was designed to protect children from, like autoplay, “endless” and “algorithmically” recommended content.

Ms Inman Grant said banning younger Australians from holding a YouTube account would not prevent them from accessing the platform entirely, as videos could still be viewed through links from school or in a “logged-out state”.

When browsing YouTube without a login users are automatically unable to view age restricted content.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

But YouTube has been critical of this proposal, arguing safety measures designed to protect children on the platform could not be applied if a young user did not have an account.

A spokesman for YouTube said the company shared the government’s goal of “addressing and reducing online harms” but maintained the platform was “not social media”.

“Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens,” he said.

The spokesman also said the government’s decision to include YouTube in the social media ban reversed an “clear, public commitment” to exclude the platform last year.

“We will consider next steps and will continue to engage with the Government,” he said.

Ms Wells said the government’s social media rules were “not a set and forget”.

“They are a set and support,” she said.

“There’s a place for social media, but there’s not a place for predatory algorithms targeting children.

“We want kids to know who they are before platforms assume who they are.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government was making it clear it was “on the side of families”. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Ms Well said hefty fines of up to $49.5 million would be imposed on companies that failed to take reasonable steps to prevent underage account holders on their services.

Anthony Albanese said his government was making it clear it was “on the side of families”.

“Social media has a social responsibility and there is no doubt that Australian kids are being negatively impacted by online platforms so I’m calling time on it,” he said.

“I want Australian parents to know that we have their backs.”

The decision to add YouTube to the ban could prompt the platform’s owners Google to follow through with a threat to sue the government on “constitutional grounds”.

In a letter sent to Ms Wells last week, lawyers for Google warned the company was “considering its legal position” and outlined three possible options.

Among those was a potential High Court challenge arguing the ban would be an “impermissible fetter on the implied constitutional freedom of political communication”.

Originally published as Aussie kids under 16yo banned from having YouTube account