The Editor: YouTube should be on the chopping block for our kids

There’s no question that YouTube has many educational benefits, but it is just as bad as TikTok at serving up inappropriate and harmful content to our children, writes The Editor.

For anyone doubting the need for the federal government’s ban on under16s accessing social media, then the revelations that children as young as five are accidentally accessing pornography on these platforms should be all the evidence they need to get on board.

Let’s be clear. These young children are not going in search of pornographic content.

It is being thrust upon them by the algorithms that fuel these billiondollar tech platforms that prey on people, including children, online to make money.

These kids might be playing harmless PG-rated online games or watching Bluey episodes on repeat on YouTube when they are exposed. Parental controls installed on devices only go so far.

As our report today reveals, the average age Australian children are first exposed to online porn is 11.

Experts say that when children are exposed to porn, it can distort their view of what a healthy relationship is and lead to an increase in violence and coercive behaviour later in life.

“It affects their beliefs about sex and sexuality and morality, as well as their behaviours,” leading parenting expert and author Justin Coulson says.

“I’ve heard stories of five-year-olds who are not just exposed to it, but who have consumed it and then begun to act out on those images.”

It is distressing to hear, but it is the online reality for our children.

One year ago, News Corp launched the Let Them Be Kids campaign, which called on the federal government to ban under-16s from accessing social media.

As part of the campaign, we highlighted the harms being done to children’s mental, emotional and physical health by the social media platforms, who don’t consider keeping children safe online part of their responsibility.

To their credit, the federal government listened and in December last year introduced world-leading legislation to ban under-16s from social media as well as fines of $50m for the tech giants who breach the age limit laws.

It will come into effect in December this year. But with less than six months to go, some details remain unclear – including exactly which platforms will fall under the legislation. So far, the government says Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram will be included.

YouTube, however, is not. But as online safety advocate Jen Hoey, founder of Not My Kid, found, it took less than a minute to access highly sexualised content on YouTube.

There’s no question that YouTube has many educational benefits. In fact, schools around the country use YouTube tutorials as a tool inside classrooms and for homework.

But the government needs to take a serious look at cracking down on YouTube Shorts. It is just as bad as TikTok and its algorithm, separate to the main YouTube algorithm, just as powerful at serving up inappropriate and harmful content to our children.

Despite increasing pressure, particularly from the US where these tech platforms are based, the federal government has repeatedly committed to enforcing the ban in December. We applaud them for that, but the clock is ticking.

Originally published as The Editor: YouTube should be on the chopping block for our kids