YouTube has sharply criticised Australia’s incoming ban on social media use for children under 16, calling the measure “rushed” and warning it will reduce online safety rather than improve it. The sweeping restrictions, which take effect on December 10, will bar young users from platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube in what the government describes as a world-first safety initiative.
In a statement on Wednesday, YouTube’s public policy manager Rachel Lord said the new rules would fail to deliver on their promise of protecting children. “This law will not fulfil its promise to make kids safer online, and will, in fact, make Australian kids less safe on YouTube,” she said. Lord added that parents and educators had voiced similar concerns.
YouTube had initially been expected to remain accessible to under-16s so they could continue watching educational content. The government reversed course in July after concluding that minors must be shielded from what it called “predatory algorithms.” Under the new system, users in Australia with Google accounts indicating they are under 16 will be automatically signed out on December 10.
Although underage users will still be able to view videos without signing in, they will lose access to features such as safety filters, personalised recommendations and wellbeing tools. Lord argued that these are precisely the protections young viewers rely on. “This rushed regulation misunderstands our platform and the way young Australians use it,” she said. “At YouTube, we believe in protecting kids in the digital world, not from the digital world.”
YouTube said affected accounts will be archived rather than deleted, allowing users to restore their profiles and content once they turn 16.
Australia’s communications minister Anika Wells dismissed YouTube’s objections as “outright weird”. “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,” she said.
The ban has drawn global attention as regulators examine Australia’s efforts to curb the influence of social media on children. The government has acknowledged that enforcement will not be perfect at launch and expects some underage users to evade detection while gaps are addressed.
Platforms will face penalties of up to A$49.5 million (US$32 million) if they fail to take “reasonable steps” to comply. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has already begun deactivating accounts based on age information provided at sign-up.
The policy is also facing a legal challenge. The Digital Freedom Project last week asked Australia’s High Court to halt the restrictions, arguing they amount to an “unfair” violation of free-speech rights.
