Brisbane, Australia —
Australia has picked a fight with the world’s largest video platform by backtracking on an earlier promise to exclude YouTube in its social media ban for children under 16.
The Labor government said Wednesday the site, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, will be subject to the same rules as other leading platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and X – under legislation due to come into effect in December.
The ban puts the onus on social media platforms to prevent children under 16 from having an account on their sites, or risk fines of nearly 50 million Australian dollars ($32 million).
A YouTube spokesperson said the decision to include it in the ban “reverses a clear, public commitment” from the government to treat the site as an educational tool.
“We will consider next steps and will continue to engage with the government,” the spokesman said, omitting any comment on the status of reported legal threats. YouTube Kids won’t be included in the ban because it doesn’t allow users to upload videos, or comment on them.
Speaking Wednesday, Communications Minister Anika Wells likened the ban to teaching children to swim – a basic life skill in Australia where many suburban homes come with a swimming pool.
“It is like trying to teach your kids to swim in the open ocean, with the (rip currents) and the sharks, compared to at the local council pool,” she said.
“We can’t control the ocean, but we can police the sharks, and that’s why I will not be intimidated by legal threats when this is a genuine fight for the well-being of Australian kids.”
The government said the decision to include YouTube was influenced by a survey released by Australia’s independent online regulator, the eSafety Commission, this month that found 37% of children surveyed had reported seeing harmful content on the site.
Harmful content includes sexist, misogynistic or hateful ideas, dangerous online challenges or fight videos, or content that encourages unhealthy eating or exercise habits.
“YouTube uses the same persuasive design features as other social media platforms, like infinite scroll, like autoplay and algorithmic feed,” Wells told Parliament Wednesday.
“Our kids don’t stand a chance, and that is why I accepted the eSafety (Commission) recommendation that YouTube should not be treated differently from other social media platforms.”
The government passed what it has called “world-leading” legislation last year, providing a 12-month buffer to figure out how it was going to work.
As part of its research, the government commissioned age assurance verification trials to test the limits of different technologies to inform the rules it’ll impose on social media companies.
A preliminary report released in June reached 12 findings, including that age verification can be done in a “private, robust and effective” way. But it also found there was no “single ubiquitous solution” that would suit all cases, nor one that was 100% effective.
The report also said “concerning evidence” had emerged that platforms were “over-anticipating the eventual needs of regulators about providing personal information for future investigations.”
“Some providers were found to be building tools to enable regulators, law enforcement or Coroners to retrace the actions taken by individuals to verify their age which could lead to increased risk of privacy breaches due to unnecessary and disproportionate collection and retention of data,” the preliminary report found.
Privacy concerns have been raised by critics of the plan – while others say it will limit options for isolated and vulnerable children who rely on social platforms for support.
Wells has acknowledged the ban won’t be perfect.
“Kids, God bless them, are going to find a way around this. Maybe they’re all going to swarm on LinkedIn. We don’t know,” she said.
YouTube and other platforms say they’re already taking steps to protect children online.
This week, YouTube announced new trials of AI in the United States to interpret a “variety of signals” to determine if a user is under 18.
“These signals include the types of videos a user is searching for, the categories of videos they have watched, or the longevity of the account,” YouTube said in a statement.
If users are determined to be under 18, personalized ads will be deactivated, well-being tools will be activated, and repetitive viewing will be limited for some kinds of content, the company said.
Platforms have been lobbying against the Australian ban – appealing to the government and Australian parents to rethink the proposal.
TikTok has recently run ads on Facebook in the country touting the platform as an educational tool. “From fishing to chef skills, Aussie teens are learning something new every day on TikTok,” says one online ad.
Wells revealed Wednesday that YouTube had dispatched a representative of the Wiggles, the hugely popular Australian children’s entertainment group, to argue against its inclusion in the ban.
“The Wiggles are a treasured Australian institution. But like I said to them, you’re arguing that my 4-year-old twins right to have a YouTube login is more important than the fact that four out of 10 of their peers will experience online harm on YouTube, and they might be two of those four,” Wells told CNN affiliate 9 News, citing a recent survey by the eSafety Commission.
“I just didn’t find that argument ultimately persuasive.”
Almost 3,500 Australian children, ages 10-17, took part in the “Keeping Kids Safe” survey between December 2024 and February 2025.
Three out of four reported seeing harmful content.