Australia adds YouTube to social media ban for under 16s

Australia is banning YouTube for children under 16, widening the scope of a landmark social media law that aims to protect teenagers from harmful content online.

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

The Alphabet-owned video-sharing platform had been previously granted an exemption due 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 the proposed ban.

Why is Australia now banning YouTube?

Australia reversed its decision to spare YouTube from the banned list of social media sites for those under 16 after the country’s internet regulator highlighted a survey showing 37% of minors reported harmful content on the site.

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

“There’s a place for social media, but there’s not a place for predatory algorithms targeting children.”  she added.

How has YouTube reacted?

A YouTube spokesperson said in a statement that YouTube is “not social media”.

“We share the government’s goal of addressing and reducing online harms. Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens. It’s not social media,” the statement said.

“The government’s announcement today reverses a clear, public commitment to exclude YouTube from this ban. We will consider next steps and will continue to engage with the government.”

Wednesday’s decision could also be the start of a fresh dispute with Alphabet, which threatened to pull back some Google services from Australia in 2021 in response to a law forcing it to pay news outlets for content appearing in searches.

What is Australia’s teen social media ban?

In November 2024, Albanese’s government introduced a bill to ban social media for children under 16.

The law is slated to  come into effect on December 10, 2025.

How will Australia enforce its under-16s social media ban?

Social media giants face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (€27 million) for failing to impose the restrictions.

“Social media have a social responsibility and there is no doubt that Australian kids are being negatively impacted by online platforms, so I’m calling time on it,” Albanese said on Wednesday.

“I want Australian parents to know that we have their backs.”