Australia announces the ban on the YouTube account for children under the age of 16 – National
The Australian government has announced that YouTube will be among the social media platforms which must ensure that account holders are at least 16 years old from December, reversing a position taken months ago on popular video sharing service.
YouTube was listed as an exemption in November from last year when the Parliament adopted the global laws that prohibit Australian children under the age of 16 of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok and X.
On Wednesday, the Minister of Communications Anika Wells published rules which decide which online services are defined as “limited social media platforms” and which avoid the age limit.
Age restrictions come into force on December 10 and the platforms will risk up to $ 50 million Australian dollars (33 million US dollars) to “do not take responsible measures” to exclude minor account holders, said a government statement. The steps are not defined.
Wells defended the application of restrictions in YouTube and said that the government would not be intimidated by threats of legal proceedings from the US owner of the platform, Alphabet Inc.
“Evidence cannot be ignored that four in 10 Australian children report that their most recent damage was on YouTube,” Wells told journalists, referring to government research. “We will not be intimidated by legal threats when it comes to a real struggle for the well-being of Australian children.”
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Children will be able to access Youtube but will not be allowed to have their own YouTube accounts.
YouTube said that the government’s decision “reverses a clear and public commitment to exclude YouTube from this prohibition”.
“We share the government’s objective to resolve and reduce online damage. Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video sharing platform with a free and high quality content library, more and more consulted on television screens. It is not social media,” said a YouTube press release, noting that it will examine the following steps and will engage with the government.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia would campaign in a United Nations Forum in New York in September for international support for social media.
“I know by the discussions that I had with other leaders that they examine this and that they are considering the impact that social media has on young people in their respective countries,” said Albanese. “It is a common experience. It is not an Australian experience. ”
Last year, the government ordered an assessment of age insurance technologies which was to report last month on the way young children could be excluded from social media.
The government had not yet received the final recommendations for this assessment, Wells said. But she added that users of the platform will not have to download documents such as passports and driving licenses to prove their age.
“Platforms must provide an alternative to the supply of your own personal identification documents to be satisfied with their age,” said Wells. “These platforms know with a fatal precision that we are, what we do and when we do it. And they know that you have had a Facebook account since 2009, so that they know that you are over 16 years old.”
Exempt services include online games, messaging, education and health applications. They are excluded because they are considered less harmful to children.
The minimum age is intended to treat harmful impacts on children, including addictive behaviors caused by characteristics of persuasive or manipulative platform design, social isolation, sleep interference, poor mental and physical health, low satisfaction of life and exposure to inappropriate and harmful content, according to government documents.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press
