Concerns raised by YouTube that Australia’s social media ban for children will leave them “less safe”, thereby undermining the intent of the world-first restrictions, have been dismissed by Communications Minister Anika Wells as “outright weird”. Source: The Australian.
The popular video-sharing site yesterday outlined how it would comply with the new laws, which will require it and nine other platforms – including Instagram, Facebook, Reddit and X – to “take reasonable steps” to stop under-16s from creating or holding accounts.
YouTube revealed that from December 10, when the restrictions take effect, all underage users would be automatically signed out of their accounts, cutting off access to features including subscriptions, playlists, likes and wellbeing checks.
Children will still be able to watch YouTube videos while logged-out, and existing account holders will be able to regain access once they turn 16.
Parents, meanwhile, will lose the ability to supervise their child’s account or apply controls such as content settings and channel blocks.
The restrictions do not apply to YouTube Kids, which lets children navigate the site under more stringent safety features.
In a blog post published on Wednesday morning, YouTube’s senior manager of public policy for Australia and New Zealand, Rachel Lord, cautioned that the new restrictions would remove the safety features the site had implemented to protect children.
Asked about YouTube’s concerns, Ms Wells rejected claims that safety features would be undermined, insisting parental controls would remain accessible via YouTube Kids.
“If YouTube is reminding us all that it is not safe and there’s content not appropriate for age restricted users on their website, that’s a problem that YouTube needs to fix,” Ms Wells told the National Press Club yesterday.
With just a week remaining until underage users are removed from platforms, children have begun preparing to circumvent the ban, with a number of nascent social media platforms – currently exempt from the new rules – surging in popularity in recent days.
Pressed about the migration to alternative social media platforms, Ms Wells said designating every new site under the ban would amount to “whack-a-mole” as children looked for new ways around the restrictions.
Ahead of the ban’s commencement, Instagram and Facebook parent Meta will today begin blocking under-16s from opening new accounts and will revoke access for existing underage users.
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‘Outright weird’: Wells lashes YouTube over social media ban criticism (By Jack Quail, The Australian)
