Australia bans YouTube for under-16s

2025-07-30 22:09:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Australia is banning YouTube for children under 16, expanding the scope of a landmark social media law aimed at protecting teenagers from harmful content online.

"Young people under the age of 16 will not be able to have YouTube accounts," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Wednesday.

The Alphabet-owned video-sharing platform had previously been excluded due to its popularity with teachers.

Last year, Australia was the first country to propose a ban on social media for teenagers.

Sites covered by the ban, such as Meta's Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, have protested against the proposed ban.

Why is Australia now banning YouTube?
Australia reversed its decision to remove YouTube from its list of social networks banned for under-16s after the country's internet regulator highlighted a survey showing that 37% of minors reported harmful content on the website.

"We want children to know who they are before platforms assume who they are," Communications Minister Anika Wells said in a statement.

"There is a place for social media, but there is no place for predatory algorithms targeting children," she added.

How has YouTube responded?
A YouTube spokesperson said in a statement that YouTube "is not social media."

"We share the government's goal of addressing and reducing online harm. Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video-sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on television screens. It is not social media."

"The government's announcement today reverses a clear and public commitment to exempt YouTube from this ban. We will consider further steps and continue to cooperate with the government," the statement said.

Wednesday's decision could also be the start of a new dispute with Alphabet, which threatened to pull some Google services from Australia in 2021 in response to a law that forced it to pay media outlets for content that appeared in searches.

What is the social media ban for teenagers in Australia?
In November 2024, the Australian government introduced a bill to ban social media for children under 16.

The law is scheduled to enter into force on December 10, 2025.

Social media giants face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (27 million euros, 32 million dollars) for failing to enforce the restrictions.

"Social media has a social responsibility and there is no doubt that Australian children are being negatively impacted by online platforms, so I am putting an end to this. I want Australian parents to know that we support them," Albanese said on Wednesday./ CNA